I am a retired loss mitigation specialist from J.P. Morgan Chase.
The idea was only to modify loans, not to foreclose and evict Homeowners. That was when Jamie was making less money. Then he got greedy and said go after the deadbeats…
It’s time to (re)tell the story of my prior (law) career. You might find it interesting w DOGE stuff we see now.
The short version:
From 2008 – 2018, I was Florida’s best foreclosure defense lawyer (by a lot). Won 2,000 cases for homeowners. (For comparison, nobody else in FL won 200.). I also created many of the favorable appellate decisions for homeowners.
After my work cost banks billions (yes, not exaggerating), banks hired private investigators to create a dossier against me in an effort to take me out, which they then circulated anonymously to FL gov’t.
This dossier was never the subject of any court proceeding, but it became justification for govt to attack me relentlessly. Endless attacks by my state Bar. A “raid” on my office, w the raid leaked to media. Then media hit pieces.
I was never arrested, much less charged or convicted, of anything. Heck, I wasn’t even sued in civil court about any of the false stuff they alleged. And I’d spent my career helping the poor. So why did govt use the dossier as an excuse to keep attacking me, esp when I’d devoted my career to helping the less fortunate?
I got a judge to testify that the pay raises of all FL judges, statewide, were tied to their foreclosing faster for the benefit of banks.
Judges got large pay raises for capitulating — $2M in extra pay (lifetime) for highest judges in state.
That’s when it all clicked for me. The hostility I so often felt from the judges before whom I appeared was a byproduct of their large personal incentives to rule against me & my clients.
The whole system went into the tank. Not one judge stood up & said “this is wrong” bc they were all benefitting from it. In aftermath of 2008 GFC, the judiciary went into the tank, aligning w Wall Street & throwing Main Street under the bus. Why? So judges w de-facto lifetime appointments could get more pay
(This same dynamic existed across USA. It’s why no bankers went to jail after crashing global economy in 2008 GFC)
The result? Two million foreclosures pushed thru the system in FL alone … homes taken from middle class & redistributed to banks, hedge funds & investors. Ever since, home prices have continued to grow faster than median income, making housing unaffordable for so many. All by design
A illustration of how badly the judiciary twisted the laws to help banks (and themselves)? Florida now has a statute of limitations for everything except homicide & mortgage foreclosure. And it’s now almost impossible to find a lawyer who can help homeowners. They didn’t just crush me—they eliminated help for consumers altogether
When I wrote a book about this, I thought I could change how the system operated. The story was so compelling, it felt like a movie script. What did I realize?
A Pulitzer winning journalist told me she couldn’t cover my story bc her editors wouldn’t let her. A national PR firm liked my story so much they worked on it for a year for free, only to realize media was never going to cover it
Freedom of the press was created to expose govt secrets, but in practice, it protects corrupt govt.
(This is why Elon is now getting attacked, even though he’s a grifter (corporate subsides) too)
Wall Street, government and media aren’t just in bed together. They’re all the same thing
And the public? It ensures the system never changes by arguing D v R endlessly
Some people will never believe me. That’s ok. My life is great. I use my unique knowledge of the system to make a career in investing, and I love my life
That said, I’ll always be sad at how many ppl got crushed in aftermath of 2008 …
How many couldn’t pivot like I did …
And part of me will always want my friends to see just how corrupt & irredeemable govt is … so they can tune out the endless BS, focus on what they can control, and improve their lives
So, if you see me post about corruption, this is part of where I’m coming from. It’s real, it’s worse than you think, and it absolutely fucks the bottom 99%