Feds confirm robosigning at Bank of America, Wells Fargo and others

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A federal investigation has confirmed what has been widely reported for 18 months: that Bank of America , Wells Fargo and other major mortgage servicers signed foreclosure documents without always verifying the accuracy of the forms.

The results of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development investigation were filed Tuesday afternoon as part of a $25 billion mortgage industry settlement struck earlier this year.

Among the findings at BofA, Washington state's largest bank by market share:

•Employees routinely signed foreclosure documents, including affidavits, certifying that they had personal knowledge of the facts when they did not. Affiants (those signing the affidavits) signed large volumes of foreclosure documents without reviewing the supporting documentations.

•Notaries public routinely notarized documents without witnessing affiant signatures. They also failed to keep required records of the documents they notarized.

•Attorneys may have been allowed to improperly prepare documents and misrepresent the work they performed.

A federal investigation has confirmed what has been widely reported for 18 months: that Bank of America , Wells Fargo and other major mortgage servicers signed foreclosure documents without always verifying the accuracy of the forms.

The results of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development investigation were filed Tuesday afternoon as part of a $25 billion mortgage industry settlement struck earlier this year.

Among the findings at BofA, Washington state's largest bank by market share:

•Employees routinely signed foreclosure documents, including affidavits, certifying that they had personal knowledge of the facts when they did not. Affiants (those signing the affidavits) signed large volumes of foreclosure documents without reviewing the supporting documentations.

•Notaries public routinely notarized documents without witnessing affiant signatures. They also failed to keep required records of the documents they notarized.

•Attorneys may have been allowed to improperly prepare documents and misrepresent the work they performed.
A federal investigation has confirmed what has been widely reported for 18 months: that Bank of America , Wells Fargo and other major mortgage servicers signed foreclosure documents without always verifying the accuracy of the forms.

The results of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development investigation were filed Tuesday afternoon as part of a $25 billion mortgage industry settlement struck earlier this year.

Among the findings at BofA, Washington state's largest bank by market share:

•Employees routinely signed foreclosure documents, including affidavits, certifying that they had personal knowledge of the facts when they did not. Affiants (those signing the affidavits) signed large volumes of foreclosure documents without reviewing the supporting documentations.

•Notaries public routinely notarized documents without witnessing affiant signatures. They also failed to keep required records of the documents they notarized.

•Attorneys may have been allowed to improperly prepare documents and misrepresent the work they performed.

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2012/03/feds-confirm-robosigning-at-bank-of.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2012-03-17

[KansDem]

1. So? What happens now?

What happens when the upper echelons of society's structure becomes corrupted and riddled with malfeasance?

What happens when the "One Percenters" show themselves to be nothing more than thieves and con-artists?

Where are society's "role models?"

What do the rest of us do?

[onethatcares]

3. let's all become notaries and

transfer the rights to all the biggities properties to each other.

If they aren't going to prosecute notary fraud for one, they have no leg to stand on to prosecute any.

[banned from Kos]

4. "notary fraud" is a misdemeanor

False outrage is not productive.

[onethatcares]

7. I'm not following you, but what I'm trying to say is

if I were a notary and I notarized the title to an automobile, boat, snomobile, home, bus or plot of land without

the actual owner of said property providing me with identification and a sworn affidavit that they owned said

property, I'd be going to the local jail in record time. The banks should be treated the same way, or as we now

know so well, there is a different set of laws and punishment for the richies, outrage be damned.

[sabrina 1]

10. If your house was taken with forged documents and that was the intent of forging them

that is more than a misdeanor. Try it and see how far you get forging documents to take someone else's property.

This is good news for all those who were driven out of their homes, like my friend who is in the process of suing Wells Fargo. No wonder they refused to provide her with the documents she requested. And no wonder they refused to respond to her many phone calls and letters and even to her attorney.

What you are saying is that any of us can forge documents to say, take a home from an elderly relative. That is just a misdeamor?

[banned from Kos]

13. It would be if that actually happened. But it has not.

"Intent" is the key word you use.

There were a handful of MISTAKEN foreclosures. But the vast majority were legit with fake signatures.

btw - I hope your friend wins her case against Wells Fargo (or originally WaMu probably).

[sabrina 1]

17. I see, you really have not been following this story.

Have you read the witness testimony in the Florida case? They deliberately forged documents. They knew what they were doing. The law mills were mostly responsible, but once the Banks were asked by people such as my friend, for the documents they were using to claim they could foreclose, and they refused to supply them, the fact is they knew those documents were forged but went ahead anyway.

There may have been some mistakes, but the vast majority of those where documents were forged, or where there were MERS transfers or both, were not mistakes. It was all about greed. They were betting on the failure of mortgages. The Bi-Partisan Senate Committee's two year investigation identified what they called 'possible criminal activity' on a large scale and referred their findings to the DOJ.

My friend has been contacted by the NY State AG and by the US Office of the Currency, a bit late since her home is gone, but she, along with tens of thousands of others, should never have lost their homes. They lost them because of corruption. Hopefully this can be rectified, but she can never get back her home, not to mention the person who now owns it, probably does not have the proper paperwork either.

[dixiegrrrrl]

24. Your friend might be interested in this :

I posted this in the Economy group:

Foreclosure Whistleblower Wins $18 Million in Bank Accord
http://www.democraticunderground.com/11168719

If you have knowledge of the bank doing something that has caused the government to get screwed, you can sue in the name of the government and get a big chunk of the recovery.

It's called "Qui Tam" and it exists for the very purpose of giving people an incentive to blow the whistle on any fraud that has the effect of stealing from the government.

[Vincardog]

5. Put a lien on their property. BOA must own something

[Dragonfli]

20. Just forge what you need to OWN one of their buildings, you may have to pay a small fine but....

...it is just how things are done now it would appear.

Fraud=no liability if small fine is payed.

[Vincardog]

21. Exactly. I would pay a $2,500 fine to own a $25,000,000 building. Where are those papers?

[kenny blankenship]

9. This is what happens now

Epic, nation-wrecking fraud gets swept under the rug, and the perps are free to do it again.

[banned from Kos]

2. I didn't know that any bank denied robo-signings. Its common knowledge.

The issue was always damages.

A robo-signing (illegal notary sig) is a $75,000 misdemeanor in California.

[sabrina 1]

11. Then you haven't been following this story. No one knew they had been robo-signing

until one judge in a case brought by a home-owner being foreclosed on in Florida demanded to see the Bank's documentation. Documentation requested by the plaintiff but not provided until the judge's order.

My friend did not know this eg nor did the other 50,000 people whose homes were wrongfully foreclosed on in her area alone. But she asked to see the note and was ignored several times. She asked, not because she knew about the robo-signing (which her attorney will now be able to look into in her case) but because she knew she was being fore-closed on illegally.

[banned from Kos]

15. Read again. I said banks never DENIED robo-signing.

They did it as a standard business practice. They OUTSOURCED it to LPS.

[Dragonfli]

22. Outsourcing one's fraud keeps one's hands clean then, good to know

It is also good to know that fraud has become a standard practice and they have grown so bold as to brag about it with impunity.

I am beginning to learn Neo-Liberal economic theory, steal big, steal often, and buy politicians on both sides to launder the money by paying a small percentage as a fine to make the loot "clean"

Good scam if you are part of the bankster mafia.

[superpatriotman]

6. And foreclosures continue to destroy lives!

The banks are able to do what most cannot - neither admit nor deny guilt and pay a fine.

I say indict and incarcerate while crimes are fresh.

Though the public has an ever-shortening attention span, so...

[Dragonfli]

14. "the grand settlement" will now protect the banks and allow them to keep the stolen money

Thank GAWD someone let them off the hook with a small fine. I mean it is one thing when some piss ant cries because his house was stolen, I mean who cares right?

It would have been a real tragedy if a good corporate citizen were harmed to protect the scum below them, luckily our leaders jumped right in to protect them.

I wonder what the tally off all the fraud was and what percentage of loot they have to give back? Paying anymore than 1% back would be excessive so I imagine they will keep it down to that.

[Politicalboi]

8. I heard they forged signatures

On certified documents too.

[tridim]

12. My bank transferred my mortgage around to different entities without any documentation whatsoever

Let alone signatures and notary stamps.

When I asked about the legality of this their lawyer said they didn't need documentation to transfer the mortgage note. That's right, apparently you can just hand a mortgage to someone and they are the new owner, nothing has to be recorded even though the law specifically states it must.

I'm sure I could sue them and win, if only I were rich.

[banned from Kos]

16. They may have lost your original paperwork.

If you are behind make them produce it.

If they can't you can probably stay. There is a guy in Florida living in a mansion since 2001 without making a single mortgage payment. I can find the Bloomberg article if you want it.

[tridim]

18. I'm long since foreclosed

My house was only worth 60% of what I owed so it wasn't really worth a fight.

I forced the lawyer to show me all the paperwork (they let me see it, but not touch it) and none of it showed any transfers, just a big gap from 2003 to 2010.

I'm likely going to get some of the settlement money, which IMO is much better than nothing. It gives me a small sense of justice for the screw-job they thought they got away with. I really wish the foreclosure mills would have to pay out too, because they are equally as guilty as their criminal clients.

[banned from Kos]

19. I hope you get a LOT of settlement money.

But the bubble got you more than the banks did. The bank lost money too (on a 60% loan-to-value).

[tridim]

23. Actually JPM Chase paid $0 for my house, when WaMu folded..

they "took over" the mortgages on their books at zero cents on the dollar. They made almost $100k on the foreclosure sale, plus what I paid them on the loan for several years.

But yea, the bubble did get me too. I bought my house right around the time Dubya was talking about his glorious "Ownership Society", IMO the first big step in the whole subprime scam.