As I was driving in to work today, the lead story at the top of the hour on the radio was Bank of America's announcement that it would start submitting foreclosure sale paperwork againon Monday. The anchors made it out like, okay, we're all done. Little two-week snafu, but that's that.
Then the president of the New York Fed, William Dudley, during a briefing at his bank on the regional economic outlook, said "The Federal Reserve actively encourages efforts to find viable alternatives to foreclosure, like loan modifications, or deeds in lieu," but he also added that, "It's important foreclosures that comply with state and federal laws can take place as this is a necessary part of adjustment that will lead to more normal conditions in the housing market."
Shortly after that, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs put out the following statement: “As institutions are determining their next steps in addressing these issues, we remain committed to holding accountable any bank that has violated the law. In addition to strongly supporting the investigation by the state attorneys general, the administration’s Federal Housing Administration and Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force have undertaken their own regulatory and enforcement investigation into the foreclosure process.”
Then the Texas state attorney general, Greg Abbott, one of the 50 state attorneys general who announced a major joint investigation last week, went on CNBC charging that paperwork needs to be cleaned up and, "we have to deal with appropriate title to these homes." But he also added that with regards to dealing with robo-signing, "there's no reason why all these financiers can't get that accomplished by the end of October."
