Ms. Porter¹s analysis comes as more homeowners face foreclosure. Testifying
before Congress on Tuesday, Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody¹s
Economy.com, estimated that two million families would lose their homes by
the end of the current mortgage crisis.

Questionable practices by loan servicers appear to be enough of a problem
that the Office of the United States Trustee, a division of the Justice
Department that monitors the bankruptcy system, is getting involved. Last
month, It announced plans to move against mortgage servicing companies that
file false or inaccurate claims, assess unreasonable fees or fail to account
properly for loan payments after a bankruptcy has been discharged.

On Oct. 9, the Chapter 13 trustee in Pittsburgh asked the court to sanction
Countrywide, the nation¹s largest loan servicer, saying that the company had
lost or destroyed more than $500,000 in checks paid by homeowners in
foreclosure from December 2005 to April 2007.

The trustee, Ronda J. Winnecour, said in court filings that she was
concerned that even as Countrywide misplaced or destroyed the checks, it
levied charges on the borrowers, including late fees and legal costs.

³The integrity of the bankruptcy process is threatened when a single
creditor dishonors its obligation to provide a truthful and accurate account
of the funds it has received,² Ms. Winnecour said in requesting sanctions.

A Countrywide spokesman disputed the accusations about the lost checks,
saying the company had no record of having received the payments the trustee
said had been sent. It is Countrywide¹s practice not to charge late fees to
borrowers in bankruptcy, he said, adding that the company also does not
charge fees or costs relating to its own mistakes.

The Foreclosure Fraud Alert Website http://www.foreclosurefraudalert.com/

The Foreclosure Fraud Alert Blog  http://www.foreclosurefraudalert.com/fraudblog

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