I found this to be a fascinating book. David Dayen tells the story of three Florida homeowners as they discover that banks have been lying about signatures. Lisa Epstein, a nurse, learns that the bank foreclosing on her could not prove it had legally obtained the loan. Lisa met Michael Redman, a car ...more
For any one who doesn't believe that the "BIG BANKERS" belong in jail for all the issues which resulted in a housing bubble, read about the foreclosure crisis afterwards and you just might change your mind.
Sickening, disheartening, and just plain hard to believe. However, I do believe it. The forec ...more
The very inside story of the colossal mortgage foreclosure fraud scheme of the Oughts in Florida and all around the country, through the eyes of three victims, ordinary mortagers who were illegally foreclosed upon and who became activists in the cause of exposing said fraud. If you ever want to trus ...more
Recent events have made us all aware that police officers sometimes act outside the law, not just in fiction but in reality. But what about their bosses and their bosses’ bosses? And the judges, attorneys general, and Justice Department officials who are supposed to oversee the administration of the ...more
If you have any doubt that foreclosure fraud is one of the more fraught, and fascinating, problems of American life today, this intense triple profile by David Dayem will clear it up. The book is jam packed with hair-raising material, deftly drawing forth a portrait of fraud occurring to individuals ...more
Wow. This book had a better plot and characters than much of the fiction I have read. Both inspiring and depressing, it describes the impact a few dedicated people can have on their world, and also the stranglehold that big banks have on our entire legal and political system (the book spans periods ...more
Holy shiitake. This book. It reads like a thriller but it's real life, as hard as it is to believe. It's The Big Short on steroids. A deep look into how and why the housing crisis happened. It's an octopus with many flying limbs and heads but the monster still persists.
Not surprisingly, it ended badly. Despite rampant malfeasance and fraud and crime, the banks, in the end, get away with it all. For some reason, a homeowner, wondering who actually owns the title and mortgage on their house, is the one considered the deadbeat when banks fail to provide a paper trail ...more
As advertised, this is the story of how a nurse, a car salesman and a sixties-activist-turned-lawyer took on the Great Foreclosure Machine and lost, but not before landing a good few punches.
I consider myself knowledgeable on both the causes of the recent financial crisis and on the particulars of t ...more
Chain of Title is a nonfiction book that explores the fallout of the 2008 financial crash and the ensuing waves of foreclosures that happened across the US. It connects the efforts of 3 ordinary Americans who, without any real legal training, discovered that banks were outright forging documents to ...more
There are a lot of enjoyable reads out there, and while I have to say that while David Dayen's "Chain of Title" is one of the most important books of the year, it is far from an enjoyable read.
That's because Dayen's book will have you enraged pretty much cover to cover.
Hello, would you like to be very angry about stuff? Might I recommend: "Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street's Great Foreclosure Fraud!" ...more