According to the Chicago Tribune

A Cook County Circuit Court judge has taken the unusual step of temporarily halting at least 1,700 mortgage foreclosures after a law firm told the court that the cases contained altered documents, the Tribune has learned.

Fisher and Shapiro LLC, one of the top three law firms used by mortgage servicers to handle their local foreclosure actions, reported to the court that, in a breach of protocol, affidavits in the cases were changed. Among other things, fees were added after the documents were signed by servicers.

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“It’s similar to robo-signing in that it’s a high-volume pattern and practice of cutting corners, expediting the process through making false representations,” said Daniel Lindsey, an attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, which is not directly involved in the matter. “The fallout is this order and some delay, and maybe (it will) help some people figure out some alternatives.”