Wells Fargo sues itself...

**jbhtexas** · 07-13-2009, 01:50 PM

Al Lewis: Wells Fargo Bank Sues Itself - FOXBusiness.com

Must be nice to have enough money to pay lawyers to sue yourself, and then pay lawyers to defend you against your own lawsuit...

**Cyclone62** · 07-13-2009, 01:54 PM

Now, I"m not up to snuff on foreclosure laws, but do you need to have a sole owner of the mortgage in order to foreclose?

**Flag Guy** · 07-13-2009, 01:57 PM

That is... special

EDIT: I'm sure there is some complex legal reason for doing this, but man is it stupid

**cloneatlaw** · 07-13-2009, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by jbhtexas

Al Lewis: Wells Fargo Bank Sues Itself - FOXBusiness.com

Must be nice to have enough money to pay lawyers to sue yourself, and then pay lawyers to defend you against your own lawsuit...

Read the article. This is actually a way for them to save money.

**jbhtexas** · 07-13-2009, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by cloneatlaw

Read the article. This is actually a way for them to save money.

I did read the article. It's ridiculous abuse of the legal system.

**egami** · 07-13-2009, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by cloneatlaw

Read the article. This is actually a way for them to save money.

Actually, from reading the article it would seem they are wasting money.

**TykeClone** · 07-13-2009, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by Cyclone62

Now, I"m not up to snuff on foreclosure laws, but do you need to have a sole owner of the mortgage in order to foreclose?

No.

But it's best to be in "first place" when a foreclosure happens - that's the only creditor guaranteed to get anything from the disposition of the foreclosed property.

**jtdoyle1** · 07-13-2009, 02:07 PM

Wells Fargo's attorney to the judge," Objection your honor I would like to cite precedence in the litigation case of Coke v. Coke Zero in 2008."

Judge's ruling,"I'll allow it."

**CyPride** · 07-13-2009, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by TykeClone

No.

But it's best to be in "first place" when a foreclosure happens - that's the only creditor guaranteed to get anything from the disposition of the foreclosed property.

the only person guaranteed is the government - as property taxes are actually the very 1st lien.

Plenty of 1st lien holders are getting nothing - holding onto REOs and then not paying taxes (on purpose) and being taken out by a tax sale. plenty of them right here in small town iowa.

**GoCubsGo** · 07-13-2009, 02:13 PM

The part about providing notice to itself as the second lien holder makes sense. A failure to do otherwise could cloud title in the future based on a technicality. However, the part about hiring a second firm to represent the defense side, and then denying the allegations set forth in the petition, makes no sense. It seems as though the other defendants could use this denial to their own advantage by saying "See, Wells Fargo itself does not believe the facts set forth in the petition are true." Very weird.

**CyPride** · 07-13-2009, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by jbhtexas

Al Lewis: Wells Fargo Bank Sues Itself - FOXBusiness.com

Must be nice to have enough money to pay lawyers to sue yourself, and then pay lawyers to defend you against your own lawsuit...

I can't even imagine why this is an article published by a major news outlet.

This happens every day hundreds of times across the country.

Wells Fargo (1st lien) forecloses, and to foreclose in a judicial state they need to file a foreclosure lawsuit. To guarantee clear title, they must name all parties to the foreclosure lawsuit, including junior mortgages, liens, etc. IF they don't, they won't have a clear title at the end of the process.

And filing an answer is no big deal either - for the junior lien. Not even 15 minutes of an attorney's time. If the 2nd thinks that they have ability to recoup some of their money at the sale, or if the homeowner brings the foreclosure current, then the junior must go through this stuff.

Wells has many different entities, and they all act as different business units. The 1st is most likely a different unit than the 2nd.

Anyway, basic foreclosure stuff here.

**TykeClone** · 07-13-2009, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by CyPride

the only person guaranteed is the government - as property taxes are actually the very 1st lien.

Plenty of 1st lien holders are getting nothing - holding onto REOs and then not paying taxes (on purpose) and being taken out by a tax sale. plenty of them right here in small town iowa.

In small town Iowa, property taxes on residences are (almost) negligible - especially if compared to a mortgage large enough to foreclose on.

As for the strategy of losing the collateral to the county - the only time that I can think of that it's a good idea is when there is an unlimited liability on the property (like an old gas station) that leaves $0 of recoverable value. Otherwise, why take a 100% loss on your loan?

**BooneCy** · 07-13-2009, 02:21 PM

I have to say, that the person who wrote that article really has an axe to grind. Wells Fargo, would have to hire a law firm to represent them in a state court. That can't hire one law firm to represent both sides of the case, so they have to hire two different law firms.

Also, they can't just make the lien go away because of what was noted by GoCubsGo earlier. So, Wells Fargo is following Florida state law in all ways. Even the Florida State Bar representative he talked to said this was very common. But, he just kept on going with his story anyway.

This isn't the case of a bank not knowing what they are doing, it's an example of state bureaucracy. Welcome to the world of law. Now you know why law school takes three years to complete.

**jbhtexas** · 07-13-2009, 02:35 PM

For those of you defending this action, would you care to comment on the following from the article?

"You can't sue yourself," McKillop said. "It's just so ridiculous. .. It's a waste of paper. It's a bastardization of the legal process."

Rather than suing itself -- a stunt that was never even attempted on the MTV show "*******" -- wouldn't it be easier for Wells Fargo to release one of the liens to itself? Or pursue some other internal accounting strategy rather than tie up the court with nonsense?

"This is just folks cranking out paperwork without conscious thought," said Anthony Sabino, a law professor at St. John's School of Law in New York City.

Also, just because similar proceedings are happening elsewhere doesn't make this behavior an appropriate use of the US judicial system.

**egami** · 07-13-2009, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by jbhtexas

"This is just folks cranking out paperwork without conscious thought," said Anthony Sabino, a law professor at St. John's School of Law in New York City.

This is the one I'd love to hear more from...wish they'd had more feedback from him quoted.