Miller, Franken Assail Banks for Continuing Robo-Signing

Transparency is “one of the most obvious ways to make sure that it’s independent and thorough, so journalists and bloggers can look at it. And this further points to the need to have that,” Miller said.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), another member of Congress who has watched this issue closely, released a statement to FDL News.

I’m deeply troubled by reports that indicate that banks are still illegally robo-signing mortgage documents, and this must stop immediately. That’s why I’ve repeatedly urged banking regulators to create a better oversight plan and implement mortgage servicing standards. I hope that regulators—including the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—will use their full oversight authority to correct these problems and hold banks accountable.

The CFPB does have authority to write new regulations for mortgage servicers, and national servicing standards are crucial. However, robo-signing is a practice that is already illegal, as Franken writes. So the regulatory enforcement and penalties matter much more than the rule-writing here.

Franken back in May received a GAO report that confirmed illegal robo-signing and how the regulators who have jurisdiction over the industry had a mandate to end this practice. Obviously that has not yet happened.

As for the nascent settlement between banks and state Attorneys General, Miller said “I don’t think they can count on the banks with whom they enter a settlement to abide by it. There’s got to be enforcement provisions to monitor the banks and the consequences need to be sufficiently unpleasant.”

Check out his report in full here…

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