Maryland Court of appeals adopts new foreclosure rule
Posted: 8:27 pm Tue, October 19, 2010
By Steve Lash
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland’s highest court on Tuesday approved an emergency rule designed to identify and weed out irregularities in the mortgage foreclosure process.
The new rule, which takes effect immediately, allows circuit courts to appoint independent lawyers to review foreclosure documents for problems. If a problem with the lender’s paperwork is detected, it has 30 days to show — at its own expense — why the foreclosure should not be dismissed.
Judges may also summon lawyers and notaries public into court when the authenticity of a signature or the veracity of an attestation to the accuracy of a document’s contents is in question.
While the changes may seem far-reaching, retired Judge Alan M. Wilner, head of the committee that drafted the new rule and presented it to the Court of Appeals, said the rule simply consolidates existing powers.
Judges have “the inherent authority” to require attorneys to answer questions regarding their affidavits and to “show cause” why a case, including a foreclosure action, should not be dismissed, he told the court.
The rule merely provides “a template for the courts to follow,” added Wilner, who chairs the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure.
In addition, passing the rule will put the high court’s “imprimatur” on it and make clear to litigants, lawyers and the public that foreclosure documents will be scrutinized, he said.
Lawyers who are appointed to scrutinize the documents (known as special masters) can do so on a pro bono or no-cost basis, but only if they agree to do so, the rule provides.
‘The proverbial iceberg’
The adoption of the rule followed revelations that attorneys in at least two Maryland law firms had not personally signed affidavits that bear their names in foreclosure proceedings. Notaries public who validated those signatures have had their commissions revoked by the Maryland secretary of state.
The questioned signatures that have come to light so far are merely “the tip of the proverbial iceberg,” and there are probably more, Wilner told the high court.
Such signatures are “at worst fraudulent, at best irregular,” and call into question the validity of a lender taking possession of a home and reselling it, Wilner said.
The two law firms currently implicated in the signature scandal are Covahey, Boozer, Devan & Dore PA in Towson and Bierman, Geesing, Ward & Wood LLC of Bethesda.
Attorneys Thomas P. Dore and Jacob Geesing subsequently filed corrective affidavits — that is, an admission that the lawyer whose signature appears on the document did not, in fact, sign it.
Neither Dore nor Geesing returned telephone messages seeking comments on the rule and on their corrective affidavits.
Bravo Maryland!
You can catch the rest here…
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Maryland Judges are corrupt. They care not to uphold the law and allow fabricated evidence to be used to foreclose on homeowners. It’s truly a sad state in Maryland
[…] Courts have adopted procedures to stop fraud statewide, including New York, New Jersey, Florida and Maryland. For example, last October New York’s chief justice started requiring the banks’ attorneys to […]
Maryland judges need to be horsewhipped and drug by the horse for the crimes they are committing against us
Agreed.
THIS FORECLOSURE MILL HAS BECOME A MONSTER IN VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND THEY NEED TO BE SHUT DOWN BY THE UNITED STATES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, AND ALL 50 ATTORNEY GENERALS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THEY HAVE COST ME A LOT OF MONEY WITH FRAUDULANT FORECLOSURES, AND PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW THAT BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY’S ARE WORKING WITH THEM TO FORECLOSE ON YOUR HOME. WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR RECEIPTS OF PAYMENT AND YOUR ATTORNEY TELLS YOU THAT YOU OWE FEES THAT AMOUNT TO $17,000.00 PLUS FIND ANOTHER ATTORNEY. THEY ARE JOINT AT THE HIP! ANYONE FACING FORECLOSURE IN ROANOKE, VIRGINIA NEED TO STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MICHAEL HARTS OFFICE!
THERE ARE HONEST ATTORNEYS IN ROANOKE, VIRGINIA, AND IT IS NOT THE HART LAW FIRM.
Thank you Judy. These people need to be called out. Knowledge is Power and when people see posts like your is empowers them. I see more people every day on this site sharing their experiences and that is a wonderful thing to see. I am also seeing names of judges acting in good faith..bravo to them, I can only imagine the scorn they have endured by their contemporaries who have chosen the other path.
Having filed a 27 page document of “fraud upon the court” along with a request for hearing and sending copies to the sheriff’s office as well as the evictions dept. and then two weeks later sheriffs threw out all our stuff turned upside down confiscating property without warrant etc. etc. it is very disconcerting working feverishly to get all my stuff in just a few hours…. they don’t care about fraud, but I do! They are liable for their actions and everything we file is on the record. First… there are at least three cases which judges used in Ky to show their opinion in which was about MERS not having standing and in these cases it was about the Trustee not having standing to bring foreclosure because they are assignees. All of the foreclosures I have seen are brought by “Substitute Trustees” they are not party to the contract, note or anything else and have NO Standing!!!!! Therefor no ability to bring a foreclosure in the first place!!! yet the courts overlook this fact every time…. sounds like a criminal complaint to me, civil charges for reliance damages and the bond holders need to be made aware. I’m in Maryland and put in an emergency stop to the eviction and all they did was deny due to it being “moot” since it already happened. Excuse me it is still ongoing!!! And since when is Fraud Moot? It sounds like criminal complaints to me and civil charges and maybe even criminal charges under the RICO act. But for now we are allowing them lots and lots of rope to hang themselves with. We have found codes, rules of procedure, law, and of course the out dated, flexible, open to interpretation, able to be completely ignored Constitutions.
Any and all who have a little bit of balls, strength, fortitude, honor and the like and won’t fold at the first sign of intimidation, get in touch with and get together with those of like mind who want and will do something about it by bringing together a county assembly. Look at oursammy.com and others. Please people, theirs are corporate/ for profit, corrupt courts, judges and administrators. We need to assemble volunteer, no pay, not for profit, assemblies of the people, then grand juries. This is so powerful and has worked in other states. Please if your in Maryland get in touch and take them down. Fraud is a federal offense with no statute of limitations, that is equal to treason and murder!!! The Judges ignoring it makes them part of it and criminals as well. This is not some little thing. We can not put it off for another generation!!!!!! It is our responsibility, our time to step up or else we are condemned for allowing it to continue as well and under USC of misprision we too can be held accountable.
all the best to the rest, a hug just because, reserving all powers, not for sale or obligation, I-am creator, known as Colin
I filed my letter today stated by “Stephanie questions all.” This letter outlined all the questions to ask the lender to provide. I have been fighting Litton Loan, et al. for two years, I did a title search myself–I don’t know who owns this mortgage–Wells fargo is listed on the Foreclosure docs, but not on any assignment, note or anything at the county records. Popular Mortgage was one of the servicers. I am praying for all of us in this fight. We need to support each other. Get up stand up, stand up for your rights…..
Amen!!! I’m very grateful for this decision. I have one home that has been foreclosed on becuase the Prince Georges County, Maryland judges completely ignored my request for a hearing and allowed the banks to proceed on with their unlawful foreclosure. I sent requests to First Horizon and the trustee for the bank to validate their debt and of course they ignored me and had their sale. I’m also figting Bierman and Geesing, Bank of America and Wachovia for the home I reside in. They all should go to jail!!!
We don’t have enough prisons to deal with all of these people – Here’s is my solution – Die Banker Die – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGFZ1Jj3ui8
Dear Monet, are you still fighting Bierman and Geesing? My mother is fighting a foreclosure in MD where they are the Plaintiffs. Any advice would be appreciated.
The 1879 Supreme Court decision holding that “The assignment of the note carries the mortgage with it, while the assignment of the latter alone is a nullity.”
The ASF, American Secritization Forum, should read this law…then, weep! Tag, you’re it!
So one judge just now figured out that he has been approving fraudulent foreclosure documents. Wow, I guess Justice really is blind isn’t it? They can’t even see what they are signing until thousands have already been fraudulently evicted. Get a rope for all of them. This is what you call an Empire in Decline.
First, thank you for this great web site.
Second, as a person who has been wrongfully foreclosed on by Wachovia Bank-Wells Fargo Bank, I wonder when California is going to step up to the plate?
We are in a contentious law suit for the wrongful foreclosure, as well as a horrific lawsuit (the cart pulling the horse) regarding evictions of three families off of the compound that they illegally took.
Our Mother (a few days short of 79 years old & suffering from cognative imapirments/dementia) was given a predatory loan, which has been classified as elder abuse. A loan which is now illegal to even offer any more.
To boot the Trustee sale was robo-signed by a person who had no standing to do so.
Wells Fargo Bank on the eve of our mother’s death sent a person here to serve the eviction notices. We were not even aware of the trustee sale until after it took place. Learned when their realator showed up and told us to get out as we no longer owned the prooerty. Interestingly enough, the sale that allegedly took place was a sale back to Wachovia itself. No bidders on a property with equity of $750k.
We thought we were “working” with the bank to sort it out.
Entered into a forebearance agreement, wherein they took $30k applied all to “costs” and not a dime to mortgage. Then they refused to accept the balance ($30k) per the forebearance agreement, and added an additional $22k to the second installment, making it virtually impossible to ever get from under a bad situation.
In the meantime, Wells Fargo is doing everything in their power to evict us from a property that we have a pending lawsuit on.
The judges on the other hand, go right along with eviction hearings as if the bank has the right to the process of eviction.
Will this madness ever come to a halt for those of us fighting these greedy corrupt banks and their lawyers?
Let the cover up begin. And no one will do anything about it!!!!!