Wells Fargo & Company said on Wednesday that it had agreed to buy back $1.4 billion in securities it sold to investors according to an article by Cyrus Sanati.

The suit, brought by the California attorney general, Jerry Brown, contends that Wells Fargo had routinely misrepresented, marketed and sold auction-rate securities as safe, liquid and cash-like investments, omitting material facts.

“Wells Fargo convinced thousands of investors to purchase auction-rate securities with promises of robust returns and liquidity, but when the market collapsed, investors were left out in the cold,” Mr. Brown said in a statement. “Based on misleading advice, investors bought these risky securities.”

If Wells Fargo will lie to its own investors imagine how easy it is to lie to a home owner.   If you or a homeowner you’re  assisting in a short sale is dealing with Wells Fargo then tread carefully.  We routinely see Wells agreeing to short sales but then slipping in several clawback clauses.  Make sure an attorney reviews the final short sale agreement to keep you and your seller out of trouble.

-          The Bank Slayer

Testimony from a “copy” is inadmissible. Testimony is inadmissible unless it comes from a witness accepted by the court — not some lawyer lathering up his mouth and using finesse to escape the rules of evidence.   Every witness must be sworn, must have personal knowledge of the contents, must remember it ALL and be able to communicate it with specificity such that a court could rule without the court creating a document that had never been in existence before the evidentiary hearing.

Ever hear the old “buyers are liars”?  Some of attorneys are right there with ‘em. As soon as the Lawyer starts talking you should probably be objecting since he is not sworn, not a witness and never will be.

So what this means is that an affidavit that is sworn must be the “testimony” of a witness accepted by the court who has personal knowledge and is not reporting what was told to them by someone else and not be reporting what they read in another document.

Hats off to our friend Neil Garfield at Livinglies for a great piece on evidence.      Show me the proof!!!