WaMu’s former CEO Kerry Killinger claimed in Senate testimony that WaMu should not have been seized and that other institutions were to clubby to fail, but WaMu was not clubby enough.
WaMu failure | admin April 14, 2010 | 
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From the kinda-funny but kinda-sad files, comes this revelation of how the arrogant and loose WaMu culture that led to its huge sub-prime losses. From one of their lavish retreats, the lyrics of a Sir Mix-a-lot adapted rap with lyrics like “I like big bucks and I can not lie …”
I’ve seen reports from Chase customers about Chase freezing bank accounts that include direct deposit Federal benefits (Social Security) for the purpose of debt collection. By law, it is illegal for banks to dip into Federal benefits for debt collection, but direct deposit funds have been a gray area and you generally had to go through a claim process to get these funds released, a process that was not simple or accessible to many people.
Well now, according to this article in the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department has released new rules about what banks must go through to insure frozen funds don’t include Federal benefits. Basically, if banks freeze your funds that came from any Federal benefits, they are breaking the law, according to these new rules.
The point is that if you have this problem with Chase, you should scream loudly to the bank and to its regulators. Information on Chase’s regulators can be found here.
I come across a lot of sites that contain no real content, a ton of ads, and exist only to get high placement in search engine rankings so as to monetize clicks. This one I came across today is notable in that their “article” is about low refinance rates with Bank of America, Citi, Chase, and WaMu? Apparently they didn’t get the message that WaMu doesn’t exist anymore as a bank. If you do visit that site, please don’t click on any ads, it will only encourage them. 🙂
Advertising, Ineptitude | admin April 13, 2010 | Comments (1)
Looks like there is a pending settlement in a class action against Bank of America, Chase, and other banks related to their use and requirement of highly biased arbitration proceedings. There is no monetary settlement; the settlement involves the banks agreeing to stop requiring binding arbitration.
Jamie Dimon may think he is a hero for taking WaMu off of regulators hands in 2008, but among college students, he is no hero.
Here is another interesting case that outlines the importance of the details associated with a mortgage and how failure of the bank to pay close attention to all the details may give someone an edge in a foreclosure action. In this particular case, two individuals obtained a first from WaMu in 1999 and then a second from another local bank. The missing details were that both the deed and the loans mentioned only the property and not the mobile home that was on it. As such, the mobile home was considered personal property and not part of the lien placed upon the real property, or simply the land, as unlike a non-mobile home, a mobile home is not considered part of the real property, because, well, its mobile. 🙂
The homeowners were eventually otherwise SOL because the state laws in this case allowed the banks to attach their personal property as well, but this simply serves as an example of how banks have not paid attention to the small details over the last decade or more.
This article might be helpful if you are struggling with your mortgage originated by WaMu. If you believe that your loan might have involved fraud, contacting the current banks regulators might help. You can find information on what regulators to contact here.
