Flaws, how about FRAUDS!
Other lenders said Thursday that their foreclosure procedures were proper.
Properly full of SHIT!
But, a spokesman for Bank of America, Rick Simon, said,
“We do not have anything to tell you at this time.”
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By DAVID STREITFELD
Published: September 30, 2010
The foreclosure machinery that has forced millions of Americans out of their homes is beginning to seize up as some lenders and their lawyers are accused of cutting corners in their pursuit of rapid home repossessions.
Evictions are expected to slow sharply, housing analysts said, as state and national law enforcement officials shine a light on questionable foreclosure methods revealed by two of the country’s biggest home lenders in the last two weeks.
Even lenders with no known problems are expected to approach defaulting homeowners more cautiously and look more aggressively for resolutions short of outright eviction.
Despite the turmoil, some economists said the breakdown could ultimately lay the groundwork for a real estate recovery.
Stricken neighborhoods across the country, for example, could benefit. One big factor undermining home sales is fear of a large number of foreclosed homes coming to the market. If the foreclosures are delayed or never happen, housing prices might find a floor.
“Maybe this is like shock therapy,” said the economist Karl E. Case. “Maybe this will actually get the lenders to the table and encourage them to work out deals that are to the benefit of everybody.”
While such a happy ending is possible, the near term is more likely to produce paralysis and confusion.
If foreclosures were not properly done, families who bought the troubled homes could be vulnerable to claims by the former owners. And as more defaulting homeowners become aware of the lenders’ problems, they are expected to hire lawyers and challenge the proceedings against them.
Apparently alarmed about such a possibility, one of the major title insurance companies, Old Republic National Title, has sent a bulletin to agents saying that “until further notice” it would not insure title to properties foreclosed upon by GMAC Mortgage, the country’s fourth-largest home lender and one of the two big lenders at the center of the current controversy.
GMAC declined to comment, and Old Republic representatives did not return calls.
GMAC has acknowledged legal missteps in processing mortgages, and JPMorgan Chase has acknowledged the possibility of missteps, and both have suspended all foreclosures in the 23 states where they need a court’s approval. That’s 56,000 in the case of Chase alone; GMAC declined to provide a number.
Attorneys general in half a dozen states are demanding action or opening investigations. The Treasury Department said Thursday it was asking regulators to look into “these troubling developments.”
“We’re seeing a fundamental breakdown in the system, because no one cared that much about getting things right,” said Representative Alan Grayson, a Democrat of Florida, who unsuccessfully asked the Florida Supreme Court to halt all foreclosures in that state.
Wall Street was examining the impact the disclosures could have on the lenders. Moody’s Investors Service has placed the servicer ratings of GMAC and Chase on review for possible downgrade.
The federal government has been the majority owner of GMAC since supplying $17 billion to prevent the lender’s failure during the financial crisis.
Other lenders said Thursday that their foreclosure procedures were proper.
A Citigroup spokesman said the lender required “annual training for our foreclosure employees on the proper execution of affidavits, including having personal knowledge of the information in the affidavit.”
A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said “the affidavits we sign are accurate.”
A spokesman for Bank of America, Rick Simon, said,
“We do not have anything to tell you at this time.”
GMAC and Chase are in trouble because, overwhelmed with foreclosures, they tried to process them as quickly and cheaply as possible, defense lawyers say. The companies say they are reviewing their procedures to take care of any violations.
The missteps stemmed from the affidavits the lenders file as they seek a quick or summary judgment in thousands of foreclosure cases. The affidavits state certain facts about the case, including the amount owed, which the signer indicates he has personal knowledge of. Without the affidavit, the lender would have to prove the facts at trial.
In depositions taken by lawyers for homeowners, executives at GMAC and Chase said they or their teams signed 10,000 or more affidavits and related documents a month. That did not give them time to review the cases.
Defense lawyers say the disclosures are symptomatic of the carelessness, if not outright fraud, that lenders have been exhibiting for years in their rush to file cases. Many necessary documents have disappeared, with defense lawyers saying the lenders often do not even have standing to foreclose.
For the rest go here…
Make sure you have your boots on first…
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The robo signers must be mutants or have super powers!
If they were signing 10,000 foreclosures a month that means they were going at a rate of 1 file every 1.04 minutes for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
That includes: getting the file, reading the file, verifying the information in the file, and signing it in front of the notary.
It just took me 24 seconds just to open a hard copy file, find the place I sign and sign the thing.
Took 5 seconds just to sign my name.
Imagine if I had to actually read over and verify all the essential information in the file?
Considering that all the information, in every file, needs to be checked and verified, and the documents are more than 2 pages long, it would take surely take Superman more than 1.04 minutes to accomplish!
Did they have to check the file against a database? Or were the signers supposed to have the information memorized already?
Where was the verification information kept?
When I worked in the mortgage dept, homeowner files usually contained all kinds of letters, documents, and other papers in them. All copied and stored in a computer file.
Nothing was instantly available in any form.
So, why is there any question that they never checked anything and just signed as many as they could in a day?
There is no other way it could be done, grab files and just sign, sign, sign!
And somebody tell me how the Hell did they foreclose on a house that never had a mortgage?
A home with no file at all?
Oh yea sure look at the ones posted on my website, from Wells fargo, and Americas Servicing, signed by the infamous John Kennerty, also note NOD filed by NDEX west BEFORE substitution of trustee granting this power to NDEX west in both cases
Sweet Jesus! It’s about time. I was in foreclosure until my home sold and I was able to pay off the loan in full. But I lost all my equity in the process…to the tune of $150K. I will never buy another home again unless I can pay cash and the title is clear and unclouded. Future sellers will be forced to bring a quiet title action to clear their title before they can sell; future buyers of foreclosed property will discover that their title to the property is in doubt; potential buyers will be demanding proof of clear title before they put down any money toward purchase. In time, this fiasco will clear up, but unless the government and the court system enforces laws and regulation, it’s going to be a long haul. Hang in their folks and keep pushing and fighting…it’s time to clean up the system. Always remember, there are more of us than of them.
Bank of America is under investigation by several states and the DoJ. They already have enough to indict a large number of BOA executives and their attorneys. Of course, almost every major mortgage loan originator has violated a variety of state and Federal laws from loan origination to servicing and foreclosure.
It looks like the pressure from Congressman Grayson and Senator Franken will stir the DoJ to take action. If not, the DoJ will have some explaining to do, too.