Inspector General: FHFA Was Aware of Robo-Signing and Other Abuses

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Inspector General: FHFA Was Aware of Robo-Signing and Other Abuses
10/04/2011 By: Carrie Bay

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) had knowledge of such foreclosure procedural abuses as robo-signing and falsified documentation years before these infractions made front-page headlines and triggered industry-wide investigations, according to the agency’s own inspector general.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) focused its investigation on Fannie Mae’s Retained Attorney Network, which was established by the GSE in 1997 to perform default-related legal services associated with foreclosure, bankruptcy, loss mitigation, eviction, and REO closings.

According to the inspector general’s report released Tuesday, FHFA documented its receipt of consumer complaints citing “inappropriate foreclosure practices” involving Fannie Mae loans at least as early as August 2009.

However, FHFA did not act on these reports until a full year later, when allegations of abuse by law firms within Fannie Mae’s attorney network – such as routinely filing false documents in court proceedings and robo-signing – surfaced in the media in August of 2010.

More: http://www.dsnews.com/articles/index/inspector-general-says-fhfa-was-aware-of-robo-signing-and-other-abuses-2011-10-04