Problems in Mortgage Servicing from Modification to Foreclosure: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs, 111th Cong., Nov. 16, 2010 (Statement of Associate Professor Adam J. Levitin, Geo. U. L. Center)

The mortgage foreclosure process is beset by a variety of problems. These range from procedural defects (including, but not limited to robosigning) to outright counterfeiting of documents to questions about the validity of private-label mortgage securitizations that could mean that these mortgage-backed securities are not actually backed by any mortgages whatsoever. While the extent of these problems is unknown at present, the evidence is mounting that it is not limited to one-off cases, but that there may be pervasive defects throughout the foreclosure and securitization processes. The problems in the mortgage market are highly technical, but they are extremely serious. At best they present problems of fraud on the court, clouded title to property, and delay in foreclosures that will increase the shadow housing inventory and drive down home prices. At worst, they represent a systemic risk of liabilities in the trillions of dollars, greatly exceeding the capital of the US’s major financial institutions. Congress would do well to ensure that federal regulators are undertaking a thorough investigation of foreclosure problems and to consider the possibilities for a global settlement of foreclosure problems, loan modifications, and the housing debt overhang that stagnate the economy and pose potential systemic risk

Rule 10b-5: The Rejection of the Birnbaum Doctrine by Eason v. General Motors Acceptance Corp. and the Need for a New Limitation on Damages

Det är viktigt att vägarna håller så länge som möjligt. En faktor som har en påverkan i asfaltens långvarighet är bitumen. När bitumenet föråldras försämras dess egenskaper som ökar risken att skador uppstår på asfalten. Med hjälp av olika tillsatser kan bitumenets egenskaper förbättras. En av dessa egenskaper är bitumenåldring. Sammanlagt finns det tre olika skeden i bitumenåldring. Av dessa tre skeden kommer tillverknings- och användningsskedet att undersökas. I detta examensarbete kommer tre olika tillsatsers påverkan i bitumenföråldring att undersökas. Detta kommer utföras genom laborationer där olika metoder som penetration, mjukpunkt, fraass brytpunkt, DSR, Iatroscan, GPC och FTIR kommer användas. Det kommer också utföras styvhetestester på de tillverkade asfaltskropparna. Resultaten som tas fram i detta examensarbete tyder på att Rediseten har bäst värden avseende åldring utav bitumen. Men detta tros inte vara på grund av tillsatsens inverkan i bitumen utan möjligheten att sänka temperaturen vid tillverkningen av asfalten.It is important that roads last as long as possible. One factor that has a prolonged effect on asphalt is bitumen. When bitumen ages the characteristics deteriorates which increases the risk for damages on the asphalt. With the help of different additives the characteristics of bitumen could improve. One of these characteristics is bitumen aging. There are three different stages in bitumen aging. Of these three stages will the production and user stage be examined. In this thesis will three additives effect on bitumen aging be examined. This will be performed by doing laboratory experiments where different methods will be used such as penetration, softening point, fraass breaking point, DSR, latroscan, GPC and FTIR. Stiffness tests will be made on the constructed asphalt bodies. Results in this thesis interprets that Rediset has the best values when it comes to aging of bitumen. It is not believed to be the additives effect in the bitumen but the fact that the additive gives the opportunity to lower the temperature during the production of the asphalt

Robo-Signing, Chain of Title, Loss Mitigation, and Other Issues in Mortgage Servicing: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Hous. and Cmty. Opportunity of the H. Fin. Serv. Comm., 111th Cong., Nov. 18, 2010 (Statement of Associate Professor Adam J. Levitin, Geo. U. L. Center)

The US is now in its forth year of a mortgage crisis in which over 3 million families have lost their homes and another 2.5 million are currently scheduled to lose theirs. Repeated government loan modification or refinancing initiatives have failed miserably. To this sad state of affairs, there now come a variety of additional problems: faulty foreclosures due to irregularities ranging from procedural defects (including, but not limited to robosigning) to outright counterfeiting of documents; predatory servicing practices that precipitate borrower defaults and then overcharge for foreclosure services that are ultimately paid for by investors; and questions about the validity of transfers in private-label mortgage securitizations. While the extent of these problems is unknown at present, the evidence is mounting that they are not limited to one-off cases, but that there may be pervasive defects throughout the mortgage servicing and securitization processes