Before the foreclosure fraud settlement was announced, high-level officials told me that the still-secret HUD IG report detailing some of the crimes of the mortgage industry would be released when the settlement terms were filed in federal court. That document was indeed released today, and The New York Times reviewed it; they find that top bank managers really were responsible for the criminal conduct

Wells Fargo and other banks who own foreclosed homes are apparently hiding the fact of the bank ownership from prospective buyers. This makes it harder or less likely the buyers will pursue questions about title, hidden defects, and other problems. It also tends to keep the home’s price artificially higher than it would be if bank ownership after foreclosure were disclosed.

We’re going to get a lot of theater in the next year, with big talk about enforcement actions. In that regulatory filing by Wells Fargo, they also highlight what are known as “Wells notices,” essentially early warnings that they are about to be sued by the SEC over mortgage backed securities disclosures. Of course, every recent SEC litigation on MBS issues has ended up with a settlement where the offending company didn’t have to admit or deny wrongdoing. Unless there’s a gung-ho prosecutor/director of the investigative unit, this probably won’t change.

It’s embarrassing that the most information we’ve yet received about the foreclosure fraud settlement comes from an annual report to stockholders by Wells Fargo. In other words, we had to wait for the banks to tell us what was in the settlement. Here are some of the details . . .

I mentioned earlier today that Shaun Donovan tried to sell the weak $2,000 pittance provided to foreclosure victims in the recent servicing settlement by saying that the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) reviews still offer the opportunity for individuals who were wrongly foreclosed upon to reap restitution. I scoffed at this because those OCC reviews are widely seen as ineffectual and designed to whitewash the problem, with the banks self-reporting their own reviews through “independent consultants” they hire and pay.

As it turns out, Martin Andelman, with excellent timing, got an insider at Wells Fargo to expose just what a sham these foreclosure reviews are.

In the latest of a flurry of under-the-wire lawsuits that seem to conflict with an imminent foreclosure fraud settlement, Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York and a co-chair of the federal task force looking into the residential mortgage-backed securities market, sued three banks for their use of the MERS electronic registry, which resulted in fraudulent foreclosure filings.

In these hard times — caused by Wall Street bubbles and unregulated greed — it’s more than a little bile-inducing to see of the worst perps not only skate on jail time or even paying to fix the messes they helped create, but to steal some more money out of the till, money that could have gone to schools, highways, libraries, and actual job creation the way Franklin Delano Roosevelt did it lo these many years ago.

That’s why Minnesotans for a Fair Economy and several other local groups are staging a Rally and March for the 99% this coming Tuesday, January 24.

It’s the Rose Parade, and that means the after parade of protest groups that this year will also include floats and marchers from the Occupy movement.

Today, after the floats and the marching bands and Grand Marshals and all the other pomp and circumstance crosses Colorado Avenue in Pasadena, California, marking the end of another Tournament of Roses Parade, over 1,000 activists will stage their own march. The protesters even have their own floats, including a massive 250-foot rendering of the Constitution of the United States, and a 70-foot octopus made out of plastic bags, symbolizing the predatory nature of the financial industry and the tentacles they use to strangle the nation’s economy and take the riches for themselves. At the end, 99 activists representing the 99% will carry one member sitting on a throne, representing the 1%.

The Backbone Campaign, longtime source of witty direct action protests, partnered up with the Other 98%, the Seattle Labor Chorus and the Washington Community Action Network to produce a Christmas caroling event at Bank of America and at Wells Fargo. Donned in their Santa hats and other gay apparel, including a Ghost of Christmas Present, the 99% Choir serenaded the staff and customers at branches in Seattle area.