The cast of characters involved in Faith Burns' foreclosure troubles
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HOMEOWNER FAITH BURNS: Burns bought her house in south Minneapolis in 1995. She refinanced her mortgage three times -- the third time in 2005 with Unlimited Funding Corp., for a $199,000 interest-only mortgage loan with a nearly 9 percent interest rate that "re-adjusted" every six months. The mortgage broker's fee, her attorney alleges, was $13,500, or more than 7 percent of the mortgage, an amount no longer allowed by state law which caps mortgage broker fees at 5 percent.
UNLIMITED FUNDING CORP. A now-defunct mortgage brokerage in Bloomington. Formed in 2003 and dissolved in 2007. Burns used this firm the third time she refinanced her mortgage.
LOUIS BELFREY: A self-described cold caller who received $200 for every prospect. Belfrey, of New Hope, says he turned over Faith Burns' name to Reginald "Rocky" Foster.
ROCKY FOSTER: One of the principals of Unlimited Funding Corp. Foster, of Apple Valley, has returned to his previous career in commission auto sales.
BNC: Burns' mortgage was originated by Unlimited Funding Corp. and sold to BNC, based in Irvine, Calif. BNC was a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers, the Wall Street investment bank. Lehman closed BNC's doors in September, 2007, laying off 1,200 employees.
CHASE HOME FINANCE, AURORA, US BANK: Chase "services" or collects Faith Burns' monthly mortgage payments, sends the proceeds to Aurora, a master servicer and surviving arm of now defunct BNC. US Bank distributes the money to investors -- banks, insurance companies, hedge funds -- who bought the notes which supplied the money for the mortgages.
MARK IRELAND: Attorney for the Housing Preservation Project. Ireland has filed suit in federal court arguing that Faith Burns was sold what Ireland calls a defective mortgage, that factual information was withheld from Burns and that the mortgage was designed to fail.
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