Wells Fargo Bank Sues Itself

You can't expect a bank that is dumb enough to sue itself to know why it is suing itself.

Yet I could not resist asking Wells Fargo Bank NA why it filed a civil complaint against itself in a mortgage foreclosure case in Hillsborough County, Fla.

"Due to state foreclosure laws, lenders are obligated to name and notify subordinate lien holders," said Wells Fargo spokesman Kevin Waetke.

Being a taxpayer-subsidized, too-big-to-fail institution, it's possible that one of the few ways for Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC: 24.22, 1.31, 5.72%) to know what it is doing is to notify itself with a court filing.

In this particular case, Wells Fargo holds the first and second mortgages on a condominium, according to Sarasota, Fla., attorney Dan McKillop, who represents the condo owner.

As holder of the first, Wells Fargo is suing all other lien holders, including the holder of the second, which is itself.

"The primary reason is to clear title and ownership interest in a property to prepare it for sale," Waetke said in an email exchange. "So it really is not Wells Fargo vs. Wells Fargo."

Yet court documents clearly label "Wells Fargo Bank NA" as the plaintiff and "Wells Fargo Bank NA" as a defendant.

Wells Fargo hired Florida Default Law Group., P.L., of Tampa, Fla., to file the lawsuit against itself.

And then Wells Fargo hired another Tampa law firm -- Kass, Shuler, Solomon, Spector, Foyle & Singer P.A. -- to defend itself against its own lawsuit, according to court documents.

Wells Fargo's defense lawyers even filed an answer to their client's own complaint.

"Defendant admits that it is the owner and holder of a mortgage encumbering the subject real property," the answer reads. "All other allegations of the complaint are denied."

This is even dumber than the lending practices that led to this foreclosure mess, yet this is what the court record says. I learned about this from "The Consumer Warning Network" Web site, which posted an article by Angie Moreschi titled, "Have The Banks Gone Crazy?"

www.foxbusiness.com...

too funny

reply to post by warrenb


Just like in divorces, frivolous lawsuits, and celeb criminals....the real winners here are the law firms! They don't care what the outcome is, as long as they get paid! Wells Fargo doesn't care which lawfirm wins, they still own the property. The government doesn't care how ridiculous the managers of this business are, because it is deemed "too large to fail." So we, the taxpayers, get to make the law firms rich! Just like we make the insurance industry rich, and the banking conglomerates rich.

Starred and flagged, but it still makes me mad!

Wow... Only in America can you find a bank suing itself. Why oh why does this stuff always happen here?

Ouroboros





Our institutions are suffering from schizophrenia .

What a wicked web ...

What would be even better is if there was one person who was acting as a defendent and the claimant! Ive got visions of one person hopping between tables throughout the proceedings.

What? This doesn't make any sense.

Why would they have to file a lawsuit when they own the first and second mortgages?

Wouldn't be as simple as a phone call?

Jeeze we live in a # up country.

Is it any wonder they never have a straight answer to any questions and they 'fail'?

Don't worry, I promise you, regardless of the judgment it will be the tax-payers who foot the bill. ..... (actually we already did)

Originally posted by Bluebelle
What would be even better is if there was one person who was acting as a defendent and the claimant! Ive got visions of one person hopping between tables throughout the proceedings.

you know that is probably the way it will happen. I mean the bank is suing itself. I would imagine that the same loan originator approved both loans.

Now this will be the a first, a witness for both the defense and the plaintiff.

reply to post by Jenna


Because only in America do people not care that the whole world see's them not only as fat and lazy, but stupid too.

America's finished...

reply to post by wyleecoyote


yep

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/35e6cb2fb16b.jpg[/atsimg]

Kind of reminds me of the old Coke commercial, ...

Coke Sues Coke Zero For Infringement

Originally posted by warrenb
reply to post by wyleecoyote

 

yep

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/35e6cb2fb16b.jpg[/atsimg]

Sad state of affairs when our own news outlets are telling the rest of the world how we are failing, while coddling us with touchy feely human interest pieces!

Great pic!

I disagree with the premise though. America is not sunk, our current political system may be sunk, but contrary to popular belief, our people are strong and ready for whatever may come. (excluding Calif, and NY of course. They're history!) J/K

Wow. What a bizarre story. You'd think it would be illegal for any instatution to have the power to grant itself a second mortgage on a property it already owns. Smells a bit like a form of fraud to me but I'm sure they've got all their t's crossed and i's dotted. For all we know, it probibly happens all the time.

I have credit card debt. Can I claim myself as the source of my debts, then refuse to pay and sue myself to get out of it all. I'll take me to court and then take me for all I'm worth. Plus punitive damages of course, having tarnished my good name as a credible debt payer.

I'll defend myself and since I'm a lowsy excuse for a lawyer, and completey incompetent in that respect, I'll surely get thrashed in trial. One way you can win for losing maybe?

Then I'll declare bankrupcy after moving my funds to a Swiss bank, as services rendered dues, and resue myself for total incompetence in legal representation. I guess I'd have to insure my services to be able to get anything out of it. Does Wells Fargo do insurance?

thanks for posting this, i find it very amusing. finally a rest from the flood of obama threads.

oh man this thread and you folks replying cracks me up

"funniest thread of the week." S&F

Either way they will win AND lose.

On the surface this seems like the most idiotic thing that you've ever heard.

However, if you look deeper into the law, this is desperate brilliance.

When a debtor has a lien on property, they cannot foreclose on the property right away. If multiple debtors have liens then they must clear the title first before they can prepare the property for sale. To allow time for all debtors to file their liens before sale, some States have set minimum amounts of time for this process to take place, requiring sometimes no less than a year before property can be sold.

What appears to be happening is that Wells Fargo is the only lien holder on these properties they want to unload quick before the Market Value depreciates any further. They don't want to wait for the minimum amount of time before the properties can be foreclosed and go to sale. So, they are suing themselves to get the courts to award one party or the either the right to forfeit the lien process and go directly to sale. If this takes 3-6 months in court, they still come out being able to sell these properties 6-9 months ahead of what the State would normally allow.

Ultimately, what this means is that Wells Fargo is either not as solvent or liquid in their Assets as they want to be, or they have little faith in the Florida Real Estate Market recovering any time soon, and are expecting it to plummet within the next year, and are trying to turn over these properties before it does.

Not everything is as asinine as it may seem, especially when billions of dollars are involved.

Originally posted by wyleecoyote
Because only in America do people not care that the whole world see's them not only as fat and lazy, but stupid too.

America's finished...

Well now aren't we just a ray of sunshine today.

____________

Originally posted by Static Sky
Wow. What a bizarre story. You'd think it would be illegal for any instatution to have the power to grant itself a second mortgage on a property it already owns.

They granted the condo owner a second mortgage, not themselves. And that condo owner also apparently took out more than two mortgages on the condo, so there are others listed as lien holders as well. That's what happens when people spend more money than they have and use their home as collateral to get another loan.

reply to post by fraterormus


thanks for clearing that up!

now we can understand wth is going on

Of course. Makes perfect sense in an imperfect world!

Nice to see what our tax dollars are going towards!

Next we'll find out they are also giving it away as bonuses to
the very ones who corrupted it in the first place!

Then they'll do the same thing with the country and call it "change".
Uh huh.
Like I say in my sig, living in the land of greed, etc.
Good luck.......