Servicing Agent for U.S. Bank Admits No Evidence Of Sale To WaMu 2007-OA5 Trust Prior To FDIC Receivership Of WaMu On 9/25/2008
Recently, I testified in a federal bankruptcy court hearing in which the claimant was named as U.S. Bank, N.A. as Trustee for the Washington Mutual Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Series 2007-OA5 Trust to which the servicing “agent” was Select Portfolio Servicing (SPS). Prior to the hearing I assisted in discovery efforts which, as expected, resulted in nothing relevant; no accounting, no certified trust documents, no trust account, no loan schedules, no trustee or custodian certifications, no ownership history, etc. Why? Because Washington Mutual Bank and its non-bank subsidiaries (i.e. WaMu Asset Acceptance Corporation) never sold and transferred any mortgage, deed, or note to any trust, and none of the alleged transactions to any trust would be documented through assignments and/or endorsements upon the notes per their own admissions. I’ve been investigating and writing about this for years. If you still don’t believe me, here are just a few of the incredible admissions made at this recent hearing by SPS’s witness Sherry Benight:
Direct Examination:
Dan Larson: Good morning, Ms. Benight. What is your current position?
Sherry Benight: I am a default case manager and a document control officer for Select Portfolio Servicing, better known as SPS.
Dan Larson: And, what is SPS, or Select Portfolio Servicing, in relation to this case?
Sherry Benight: We are the servicing agent for US Bank as trustee for this particular loan.
Dan Larson: What is the role of the servicing agent?
Sherry Benight: We manage the day-to-day activities of mortgage loans. We accept payments, we post them to the account, we make sure that it’s posted correctly for mortgage for the principal for interest escrow, we pay the escrow funds for taxes and insurance, and all communications with the borrower, all business records are kept by SPS.
Dan Larson: And that includes maintaining and managing all of the records for US Bank regarding this loan?
Sherry Benight: Yes.
Cross Examination:
Keith Boyd: Alright. And, to your knowledge, did the trust ever have custody of the note in question here today?
Sherry Benight: The custodian of the trust did; that was Chase, and our records show that they had the note from 2007, when the trust was formed, until they sent it to us in 2013.
Keith Boyd: The loan was made in 2007 and Chase had the original note from the beginning?
Sherry Benight: From when the trust was formed, Chase had the note, obtained the note at that time, and then they sent it to us in 2013.
Keith Boyd: And that’s what the records that we don’t have here today show?
Sherry Benight: Yes.
Keith Boyd: What capacity was Chase operating under when it took custody of the note, if you know?
Sherry Benight: They were the custodian, as designated in the pooling and servicing agreement.
Keith Boyd: And is a trustee certification available to show that the trust received the subject note, deed and note?
Sherry Benight: Um, I don’t know.
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Keith Boyd: Alright. Would you look at request for admission number 15.
Sherry Benight: Yes.
Keith Boyd: Uh, the question is, “Please admit that instruments whose value is derived from the proceeds from the subject debt, note, and deed of trust were purchased by WaMu Asset Acceptance Corporation” and SPS and US Bank admitted that that is true, correct?
Sherry Benight: Yes.
Keith Boyd: Your response. Alright. When was it sold – when did WaMu Asset Acceptance Corporation purchase the note?
Sherry Benight: I don’t know an exact date.
Keith Boyd: Would you look at request for admission 16 on page 14? That request was “Please admit that the instruments whose value is derived from proceeds of the subject debt, note, or deed of trust were sold by WaMu Asset Acceptance Corporation” and that’s also admitted. Do you see that?
Sherry Benight: Yes.
Keith Boyd: So, who did WaMu Asset Acceptance Corporation sell the note to?
Sherry Benight: I don’t know.
Keith Boyd: Do you know when that occurred?
Sherry Benight: No.
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Keith Boyd: Do you have any records that indicate whether the note was sold prior to the FDIC receivership?
Sherry Benight: No.
Keith Boyd: Alright. Thank you. If there’s no record of a sale of the note before the FDIC receivership was imposed in 2008, how would this note have gotten into a 2007 trust?
Sherry Benight: I guess I’m not following your question. I’m sorry.
Keith Boyd: Well, WaMu, Washington Mutual Bank, FA issued the note. Correct?
Sherry Benight: Yes.
Keith Boyd: Okay. And we know that WaMu Asset Acceptance Corp bought the note at some point.
Sherry Benight: It was transferred, yes.
Keith Boyd: Okay. Um, and we also know that the FDIC took over in 2008. So how do we know that the note went to the FDIC? How do we know it wasn’t sold before that?
Sherry Benight: I don’t know.
Keith Boyd: Alright. Just a second. Have you ever spoken with a person who claims to be a representative of US Bank trustee?
Sherry Benight: No.
Keith Boyd: And have you ever personally investigated whether the trust was actually ever formed?
Sherry Benight: No.
So here we have the acting agent for U.S. Bank as Trustee stating under oath that the deed and note were sold to/from WaMu Asset Acceptance Corp without any knowledge of when these transactions occurred, and without producing any assignments to support this testimony. In addition, there is no evidence in U.S. Bank’s or SPS’s records showing the deed and note were sold by WaMu prior to the FDIC receivership on 9/25/2008!!
Needless to say, the testimony that Chase has been the custodian of the original note since the trust was formed in 2007 is also a clear farce, if not arguably perjurous. The unproduced PSA states the Custodian for the WaMu 2007-OA5 Trust was Washington Mutual Bank, fsb.
How do you explain your agent’s testimony, U.S. Bank? (That sound you hear is crickets).
Bill Paatalo – Private Investigator – OR PSID# 49411
bill.bpia@gmail.com
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