Mortgage Fraud
Bethany Hood
Lender Processing Services, Inc.
MERS
Action Date: October 20, 2010
Location: South Bend, IN
On September 30, 2010, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harry C. Dees, Jr., Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division, confronted head-on the widespread practice of employees of mortgage servicing companies signing Mortgage Assignments with false job titles, in Koontz v. EverHome Mortgage and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., Case No. 09-30024, Proc. No. 10-3005. In this contested foreclosure, EverHome and MERS moved for summary judgment, while the plaintiff homeowners argued that there were genuine issues of material fact that precluded summary judgment. One such issue involved a Mortgage Assignment signed by Bethany Hood as Vice President of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”). (Regular readers of Fraud Digest will recognize that Bethany Hood is a clerical employee of Lender Processing Services who works in the Mendota Heights, MN office and who signs thousands of mortgage documents monthly using at least 20 different job titles.)
Here is what the Court said about this: “MERS, in its Answer to the plaintiff’s Complaint, admit(ted) that Bethany Hood is not an employee of MERS. (cite omitted). The debtor claimed that the document [assignment signed by Bethany Hood as a MERS officer] was fabricated and MERS has offered no other explanation, nor has it submitted properly authenticated documentation of an assignment. It appears to this Court that a fraudulent recorded Assignment of Mortgage might still be found today in the St. Joseph’s County Recorder’s Office, despite MERS’ knowledge of the false signature.
Indeed, MERS has completely sidestepped the fact that this Assignment was signed by someone representing herself to be a Vice President of MERS, and it has declined to explain why this false document was attached to the amended Proof of Claim… In the view of this court, the conduct of the EverHome defendants and the MERS defendant – reflecting a lack of transparency and determination not to provide information or documents until required – has burdened both the debtor and this Court…
On this case, the Creditors have been forced to admit that a non-employee signed the Assignment of Mortgage, representing herself to be a Vice President of MERS and other banks or mortgage companies held the Mortgage and or Note at issue… Having determined that genuine issues of material fact exist, the Court denies the Motions for Summary Judgment filed by the EverHome defendants and MERS…”
How many other Mortgage Assignments signed by individuals falsely claiming to be Vice Presidents of MERS have been filed since 2008? It is likely that the number is greater than ten million.
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Lynn Szymoniak, Esq.
FraudDigest.com
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If you check with most loan officers , they do not know the TILA (Truth in lending Act very well. The banks have been violating this federal statue for a long time. The judges will not adjudicate against them because it will collapse the banking industry globally , so they say.. . You can give the titles to the consumers and let the banks start over without being sued. You see , if they were to allow the people to sue the banks the TILA says you can sue for 3 X’s the amount of the mortgage loan. This would definately break the banks but its not our problem. Make them produce the orginal note with a blue ink signature because if you are not the holder in due course of the original note , you cannot by law collect on a mortgage payment. furthemore they , the banks should also pay the consumers their just due in interest on the signature of the notes because they automatically place their mortgages in a investment pool and place it in the investment market @ $100 million a pop. Those mortgages are paid in full the first thirty days of investment from the dividends alone. So the invester receive his/hers gains before the first mortgage payment is even made which is a residual income for the inversters. A percentage of that should go to the real investers , the consumer. Once you separate the note from the deed , the property have been given to the corporate charter of the county where it resides and corporations are property and property cannot own property, they can only manage it. All of the banks are guilty and they confuse you by signing multiple names to the note through an alonge which transfers the note between parties . Somewhere the note gets lost and never to be found. This is supposed to be reported to the SEC but it never happens. If you are interested in teaming up like the Occupy Wall street group you can email me at khaliphb@yahoo.com . I have a full copy of the Truth -in Lending Act on file and will gladly share it with anyone looking for it.
Everhome Mortgage took over my loan in May 2006 and since I informed them I was laid off, Everhome has done everyhthing to try to foreclose on my loan. I had Waterfield Mortgage for almost 30 years – no escrow -1500 in hole (no taxes/insurance increased), late fees increased at least 4 times, no statement of payments since they have taken over. RIght now, my balance is 2200 – Jan. 2010 balance was 4238 and I paid 4800 – should be paid for but 2800 disappeared into invisible escrow. I have received no mail from them since early summer so I am worried. HUD, and OTS – filed complaints with them and nothing was done, Everhome tells them them answered my questions in 2006 and 2008. Never answered my questions and I have never been given a proper statement of my escrow since they took over, even from Waterfield (made payments to them in 2006 before Everhome took over. I had to send copies of my Western Unions to prove payment. They sent me a letter confirming payments, but still claim my escrow was only 442. in May 2006 (hundreds missing). I asked them to notify loan (13% interest) since I no longer make the money I was, but they went up by over 100.00. Whatever you do with them, send it via email since they are crooks and no one regulates them. They sent me to court for default last March and I had not even missed any payments? I called the Court, and took my Western Union receipts with me… crooks They get away with everything and have foreclosed on many homes – not one of their personnel tells the same lie. Can I force Everhome to start sending me mail again? They told me the only way they would respond to me requests is via writing, and I did this Written Request ( Certified mail) — they responded and told me the matter was closed, and I now receive no more mail. Many times I have told them to cancel PMI (ignore me), charge me late fees when not late, increased my mortgage (no escrow showing any payments they made or my new balance — won’t even answer my question – how much escrow did I pay last year and how much did you pay out? My taxes and insurance- 300 (they want 5600) – no insurance or taxes (canceled and decreased) are included). My balance is 2200, but since I lost my job rather than paying 710.69, they want over 1100. (no explanation of where my money has gone).
HUD has also kept me waiting since July. I am confused as to why they don’t look over paperwork, either. Everhome just tells people whatever (they know how to lie and have history at foreclosing early on minorities – large fees). The Court clerk says no foreclosure papers were filed as of yet, but HUD tells me they don’t have to respond to my request since I am in foreclosure, and that I should seek help (for months).
The assignment used to fraudulently transfer the beneficiary interest in our loan from MERS (who was named as the nominee for the mortagee on our mortage but has no legal standing whatsoever) to GMAC LLC (the servicer to whom we made mortgage payments)was signed by the infamous Cheryl Sammons (employee of David J. Sterns) as Assistant Secretary for MERS. My understanding has always been that the perjurious signers, robosigners, and illegal notarizers supposedly worked for “the banks” or places like Lender Processing Services that provide documents to the lawyers so they can steal homes, but Cheryl Sammons works for the plaintiff attorney in our case, and apparently, and according to a deposition taken of her, and others that I’ve read that mentioned her activities, she simply fabricates documents at the bequest of her boss when necessary. I hope she and David J. Stern rot in jail for what they’ve done.
Anyway, this assignment that was fabricated in an attempt to give GMAC the legal standing to steal our property, was dated April 14th, 2009 (“coincidentally” the day before the complaint was filed) but stated (for some reason unknown to us but likely for a fraudulent purpose) that it was “effective as of March 11th, 2009. The official record states that it was recorded on May 26, 2009 but shows that the assignment from MERS went to us and GMAC on June 1, 2009. Is it just me or are those dates out of order ? Idiots.
Copied from official records oin our county. :
Document Type: (A) ASSIGNMENT
Record Date : 5/26/2009 10:23:11 AM
From Party: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC (6/1/2009 8:23:51 AM)
To Party: GMAC MORTGAGE LLC (6/1/2009 8:23:51 AM)
OWNER NAME ONE (6/1/2009 8:23:51 AM)
OWNER NAME TWO (6/1/2009 8:23:51 AM)
Let me summarize: Assignment fraudulently created April 14, 2009
Assignment fraudulently notarized April 14, 2009
Assignment fraudulently created to state that it was “effective” March 11, 2009
Assignment record date: May 26, 2009 (42 days later)
Official county record shows that the assignment occured on 6/1/2009.
Last so-called mortage payment made by us: November 1, 2008
Notice of default received: April 15, 2009
Numerous responses by my “should have been a lawyer husband” filed from May 13, 2009 through December 31, 2009.
Case reassigned to new judge on January 4, 2010.
HAVEN’T HEARD A WORD FROM ANYONE SINCE THEN AND DON’T EXPECT TO.
By the way, the affadavit filed in this case in support of the Plaintiff’s motion for a summary judgment was signed by the robosigner Jeffrey Stephan so we’ve got allt he actors on our case.
My question, which disturbs me the most, is “HOW MANY ILLEGAL FORECLOSURES” are still being RACKED UP DAILY in our country. Is the number in the thousands? Try to imagine the pyramid factor involved! Families uprooted with little hope, property titles PERMANENTLY destroyed, commerce and tax dollars GONE and millions more spent trying to sort it all out! My problem is………..I see people like Kings county judge SHACK on media shows as one of the heroes for the homeowners………simply by following centuries old laws……… but where are the serious thinkers who don’t think lining their wallets is the way to go. WHERE ARE YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA…….iS THIS THE RESULT OF THE GREAT PROMISES YOU MADE THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY? Because if these foreclosures are not STOPPED NOW it will be too late. We are running out of time.
There is a law of balance. When this starts to tip, watch the miracles of how it is corrected. There is always, someone, that proves to make a difference and strikes the cord of truth & justice.
In 2009 a strategy was started called ” produce the note movement,” headed by Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur D-OH, who exposed the truth about the “corrupt” financial system that had gone too far by stealing America’s property assets by “foreclosures.” Had this movement not been done, millions more would have lost homes at an alarming rate. The actions taken by Kaptur has allowed the people to stand up and “fight back!” The truth of the banks corruption has been exposed by fraudulent paperwork,false notes, fraudulent assignments, as proven by the many advocate groups, Courts, lawyers, Attorney Generals, Congress, and the
President. Change is being made, else the banks would have been allowed to terrorize the country with massive foreclosures which would have displaced even more families. People must fight back. Call an attorney, HUD, or your Congressional leaders if you’re facing foreclosure. Vote! And please, let us not go backward to the previous years!
I too have a Bethany Hood executed AOM, also in a case brought by EverHome Mortgage Company Inc, with Bethany Hood executing as VP of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.
Without having seen the pleadings, motions or briefs it sounds like a close match to my case.
James-
Here is proof Bethany was nothing more than a mail room clerk at LPS, formerly known as FIS Foreclosure Solutions in Mendota Heights Minnesota, Dakota County. Type FIS Foreclosure Solutions into the Google search box. You’ll see a link to a site called [PDF] Summit Vol 3 Issue 4 layout. Click on that and scroll down to the last page (page 20). There you’ll find a picture of Bethany Hood along with a brief description of her duties as a mail room clerk at FIS Foreclosure Solutions. The link takes you to an internal company newsletter called The Summit. The newsletter contains their address in Mendota Heights MN that will link you to the fraudulent Assignments of Deed and Substitutions that came out of this office. The assignment signed and executed in my foreclosure by Bethany Hood was notarized from the same office in MN. Apparently mail room clerks from Minnesota posing as MERS Vice Presidents have the knowledge, power and legal authority to assign right, title and interest in mortgages. It’s highly unlikely that Bethany Hood had any idea whatsoever about the meaning or contents of the thousands of documents she executed in her name. I wouldn’t be suprised if the night janitor that cleaned the FIS office had a MERS Vice President stamp and executed land and title documents while vacuming the carpet.
Please be so very kind as to send me a scanned copy of that assignment and any papers regarding it. I have AOM signed by BEthany Hood as VP of MERS and Everhome Mortgage Company. Look into the Florida Secreatary of State files and you will see that EMC has been dissolved!!!
Also, April 2011 Report of Tri-Agency (fed) Report of Foreclosure Practices (Office of Comptroller of Currency and two other agencies)
Why haven’t I seen defrauded homeowners, such as in this case, arguing the doctrine of clean hands in order to have standing before the court should apply to Mers and EverHome, to get their cases dismissed with prejudice? ( so they can’t be refiled by same party that attempted to foreclose. After all this was a fraud not a technicality.
I believe you will see this and soon. There is every reason for homeowners current on their mortgages to mak certain that the paperwork had been done correctly and that they will not someday find their home in legal limbo.