LPS - FORECLOSURE FRAUD
FLORIDA AG ISSUES SUBPOENAS TO LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES (LPS) & DOCX 10-13-2010

FLORIDA AG ISSUES SUBPOENAS TO LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES (LPS) & DOCX 10-13-2010

Today the Florida Attorney General issued Subpoenas Duces Tecum’s to both Lender Processing Services Inc. and to a subsidiary DOCX. This involves employees past or present, the four foreclosure firms currently being investigated.

Both Assistant AG’s “McCollum’s Angels” June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards are doing an outstanding job!

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AG_Subpoena_DT-to-Docx_

AG_Subpoena_LPS

STATE OF FLORIDA
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS

______________________________________
ECONOMIC CRIMES
INVESTIGATIVE SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM

“You,” “Your” or “DOC X” as used herein means DOCX, L.L.c. and any ofthe respondents, their agents and employees or any “affiliate” of the aforementioned entities, as that term is herein defined. Your agents include but are not limited to your officers, directors, attorneys, accountants, CPA’s, advertising consultants, or advertising account representatives. Any document in the possession ofyou, your affiliates, your agents or your employees is deemed to be within your possession or control. You have the affirmative duty to contact your agents, affiliates and employees and to obtain documentation from them, if such documentation is responsive to this subpoena.

B. Unless otherwise indicated, documents to be produced pursuant to this subpoena should include all original documents prepared, sent, dated, received, in effect, or which otherwise came into existence at any time. If your “original” is a photocopy, then the photocopy would be and should be produced as the original.

C. This subpoena duces tecum calls for the production of all responsive documents in your possession, custody or control without regard to the physical location ofsaid documents.

D. “And” and “or” are used as terms of inclusion, not exclusion.

E. The documents to be produced pursuant to each request should be segregated and specifically identified to indicate clearly the particular numbered request to which they are responsIve.

F. In the event that you seek to withhold any document on the basis that is properly entitled to some privilege or limitation, please provide the following information:

1. A list identifying each document for which you believe a limitation exists;

2. The name of each author, writer, sender or initiator of such document or thing, if any;

3. The name of each recipient, addressee or party for whom such document or thing was intended, ifany;

4. The date of such document, if any, or an estimate thereof so indicated if no date appears on the document;

5. The general subject matter as described in such document, or, if no such description appears, then such other description sufficient to identify said document; and

6. The claimed grounds for withholding the document, including, but not limited to, the nature of any claimed privilege and grounds in support thereof.

G. For each request, or part thereof, which is not fully responded to pursuant to a privilege, the nature of the privilege and grounds in support thereof should be fully stated.

H. If you possess, control or have custody of no documents responsive to any of the numbered requests set forth below, state this fact in your response to said request.

1. For purposes of responding to this subpoena, the term “document” shall mean all writings or stored data or information ofany kind, in any form, including the originals and all nonidentical copies, whether different from the originals by reason of any notation(s) made on such copies or otherwise, including, without limitation: correspondence, notes, letters, telegrams, minutes, certificates, diplomas, contracts, franchise agreements and other agreements, brochures, pamphlets, forms, scripts, reports, studies, statistics, inter-office and intra-office communications, training materials, analyses, memoranda, statements, summaries, graphs, charts, tests, plans, arrangements, tabulations, bulletins, newsletters, advertisements, computer printouts, teletype, telefax, microfilm, e-mail, electronically stored data, price books and lists, invoices, receipts, inventories, regularly kept summaries or compilations of business records, notations of any type of conversations, meetings, telephone or other communications, audio and videotapes; electronic, mechanical or electrical records or representations of any kind (including without limitation tapes, cassettes, discs, magnetic tapes, hard drives and recordings to include each document translated, if necessary, through detection devices into reasonably usable form).

1. For purposes of responding to this subpoena, the term “affiliate” shall mean: a corporation, partnership, business trust, joint venture or other artificial entity which effectively controls, or is effectively controlled by you, or which is related to you as a parent or subsidiary or sibling entity. “Affiliate” shall also mean any entity in which there is a mutual identity of any officer or director. “Effectively controls” shall mean having the status of owner, investor (if 5% or more of voting stock), partner, member, officer, director, shareholder, manager, settlor, trustee, beneficiary or ultimate equitable owner as defined in Section 607.0505(11)(e), Florida Statutes.

K. The term “Florida affiliates” shall mean those of your affiliates which do business in Florida or which are licensed to do business in Florida.

L. If production of documents or other items required by this subpoena would be, in whole or in part, unduly burdensome, or if the response to an individual request for production may be aided by clarification of the request, contact the Assistant Attorney General who issued this subpoena to discuss possible amendments or modifications of the subpoena, within five (5) days of receipt ofsame.

M. Documents maintained in electronic form must be produced in their native electronic form with all metadata intact. Data must be produced in the data format in which it is typically used and maintained. Moreover, to the extent that a responsive Document has been electronically scanned (for any purpose), that Document must be produced in an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) format and an opportunity provided to review the original Document. In addition, documents that have been electronically scanned must be in black and white and should be produced in a Group IV TIFF Format (TIF image format), with a Summation format load file (dii extension). DII Coded data should be received in a (Comma-Separated Values) CSV format with a pipe (I) used for multivalue fields. Images should be single page TIFFs, meaning one TIFF file for each page of the Document, not one .tifffor each Document. Ifthere is no text for a text file, the following should be inserted in that text file: “Page Intentionally Left Blank.”

Moreover, this Subpoena requires all objective coding for the production, to the extent it exists. For electronic mail systems using Microsoft Outlook or LotusNotes, provide all responsive emails and, if applicable, email attachments and any related Documents, in their native file format (i.e., .pst for Outlook personal folder, .nsf for LotusNotes). For all other email systems, provide all responsive emails and, if applicable, email attachments and any related Documents in OCR and TIFF formats as described above.

P. The relevant time period for the present request shall be from January 1, 2006 to present unless otherwise specifically stated. YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to produce at said time and place all documents, as defined above, relating to the following subjects:

1. Copies ofall “Network Agreements” between DOCX and any law firm with offices located in the State of Florida.

2. Copies of any and all underlying documentation that allows for your employee or ex-employee, Linda Green to sign documents in the following capacities:

a. Vice President of Loan Documentation, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. successor by merger to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc.; ;

b. Vice President, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for American Home Mortgage Acceptance, Inc.;

c. Vice President, American Home Mortgage Servicing as successor-in-interest to Option One Mortgage Corporation;

d. Vice President, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for American Brokers Conduit;

e. Vice President & Asst. Secretary, American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc., as servicer for Ameriquest Mortgage Corporation;

f. Vice President, Option One Mortgage Corporation;

g. Vice President, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for HLB Mortgage;

h. Vice President, American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc.;

1. Vice President, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for Family Lending Services, Inc.;

J. Vice President, American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. as Successor -ininterest to Option One Mortgage Corporation;

k. Vice President, Argent Mortgage Company, LLC by Citi Residential Lending, Inc., attorney-in-fact;

1. . Vice President, Sand Canyon Corporation f/kJal Option One Mortgage Corporation;

m. Vice President, Amtrust Funsing (sic) Services, Inc., by American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc., as Attorney-in -fact;

n. Vice President, Seattle Mortgage Company.

3. Copies of every document signed in any capacity by Linda Green.

4. Copies of any and all underlying documentation that allows for your employee or ex-employee, Korell Harp to sign documents in any capacity for any lender and/or servicing company.

5. Copies of any and all underlying documentation that allows for your employee or ex-employee, Jessica Ohde to sign documents in any capacity for any lender and/or servicing company.

6. Copies of any and all underlying documentation that allows for your employee or ex-employee, Pat Kingston to sign documents in any capacity for any lender and/or servicing company.

7. Copies of any and all underlying documentation that allows for your employee or ex-employee, Christina Huang to sign documents in any capacity for any lender and/or servicing company.

8. Copies of any and all underlying documentation that allows for your employee or ex-employee, Tywanna Thomas to sign documents in any capacity for any lender and/or servicing company.

9. All policy and procedure manuals and/or training materials regarding the methods and timing that DOCX uses, including without limitation relating to the drafting and/or execution of foreclosure and mortgage related documents, including but not limited to Assignments of Mortgage, Satisfactions ofMortgage and Affidavits ofany and all kind.

10. A list ofall employees, dates ofhire and termination, and their duties, including whether or not they provide any notary services for DOCX.

11. All documents in your possession regarding any contracts with Florida Default Law Group, P.L., The Law Offices of David J. Stem, P.A., Shapiro & Fishman, L.L.P. and The Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, P.A., including contracts regarding payments to or from any of those entities.

12. Documents relating to the relationship between DOCX and NewTrac and/or NewInvoice, including but not limited to, documents relating to the types ofdocuments that are or can be generated or are requested to be generated.

13. Any price lists published in any manner to prospective customers, whether by printed or electronic means.

14. All communications between DOCX and Florida Default Law Group, P.L., The Law Offices of David J. Stem, P.A., Shapiro & Fishman, L.L.P. or The Law Offices ofMarshall C. Watson, P.A. relating to procedures, policies, instructions or performance ofthe creation, backdating, modification, amendment, or other alteration ofany real property-related transactional document or records, including assignments, satisfactions ofmortgage, affidavits, notes, allonges, or other documents filed in any court.

15. Ledgers ofall financial transactions between DOCX and Florida Default Law Group, P.L., The Law Offices of David J. Stem, P.A., Shapiro & Fishman, L.L.P. or The Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, P .A.

16. Ledgers ofall financial transactions between DOCX and any title company, recording service, process server, or any other entity that provides payments to DOCX in connection with any services rendered in connection with any residential foreclosure.

17. Ledgers ofall financial transactions between DOCX and any title company, recording service, process server, or any other entity to whom DOCX provides payment(s) in connection with any services rendered in connection with any residential foreclosure.

WITNESS the FLORIDA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, this 13th day of October, 2010.

June M. Clarkson
Assistant Attorney General
Florida Bar Number: 785709
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 110 S.E. 6th Street, 10th Floor
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301
Telephone: 954-712-4600
Facsimile: 954-712-4658

Theresa B. Edwards
Assistant Attorney General
Florida Bar Number: 252794

NOTE: In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, persons needing a special accommodation to participate in this proceeding should contact George Rudd, Assistant Attorney General at (954) 712-4600 no later than seven days prior to the proceedings. Ifhearing impaired, contact the Florida Relay Service 1-800-955-8771 (TDD); or 1-800-955-8770 (Voice), for assistance.

AUTHORITY

Florida Statute 501.206

501.206 Investigative powers of enforcing authority.(

1) If, by his own inquiry or as a result ofcomplaints, the enforcing authority has reason to believe that a person has engaged in, or is engaging in, an act or practice that violates this part, he may administer oaths and affinnations, subpoena witnesses or matter, and collect evidence. Within 5 days excluding weekends and legal holidays, after the service ofa subpoena or at any time before the return date specified therein, whichever is longer, the party served may file in the circuit court in the county in which he resides or in which he transacts business and serve upon the enforcing authority a petition for an order modifying or setting aside the subpoena. The petitioner may raise any objection or privilege which would be available under this chapter or upon service of such subpoena in a civil action. The subpoena shall infonn the party served of his rights under this subsection.

(2) If matter that the enforcing authority seeks to obtain by subpoena is located outside the state, the person subpoenaed may make it available to the enforcing authority or his representative to examine the matter at the place where it is located. The enforcing authority may designate representatives, including officials ofthe state in which the matter is located, to inspect the matter on his behalf, and he may respond to similar requests from officials ofother states.

(3) Upon failure ofa person without lawful excuse to obey a subpoena and upon reasonable notice to all persons affected, the enforcing authority may apply to the circuit court for an order compelling compliance.

(4) The enforcing authority may request that the individual who refuses to comply with a subpoena on the ground that testimony or matter may incriminate him be ordered by the court to provide the testimony or matter. Except in a prosecution for perjury, an individual who complies with a court order to provide testimony or matter after asserting a privilege against selfincrimination to which he is entitled by law shall not have the testimony or matter so provided, or evidence derived there from, received against him in any criminal investigation proceeding.

(5) Any person upon whom a subpoena is served pursuant to this section shall comply with the tenns thereof unless otherwise provided by order of the court. Any person who fails to appear with the intent to avoid, evade, or prevent compliance in whole or in part with any investigation under this part or who removes, destroys, or by any other means falsifies any documentary material in the possession, custody, or control of any person subject to any such subpoena, or knowingly conceals any relevant infonnation with the intent to avoid, evade, or prevent compliance shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than $5,000, reasonable attorney’s fees, and costs.

Affidavit of Service Attached

RELATED LINK:

LPS 101

© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, concealment, conspiracy, CONTROL FRAUD, deed of trust, DOCX, FDLG, florida default law group, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, investigation, jeff carbiener, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., Notary, notary fraud, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, stopforeclosurefraud.com1 Comment

YOU MUST READ! Federal Bankruptcy Trustee Joins Litigation Against Lender Processing Services (LPS)

YOU MUST READ! Federal Bankruptcy Trustee Joins Litigation Against Lender Processing Services (LPS)

WOW! Lender Processing Services is up against some BIG TIME players!

According to Naked Capitalism:

The standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Northern District of Mississippi, Locke Barkley, has joined the case on behalf of herself and of all Chapter 13 Trustees in the US.

and also

The filings were amended to add counsel with class action expertise. On the Federal case, in Mississippi, CaseyGerry has joined the case. The head of the firm, David Casey, is a former president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Cases his firm has handled include Exxon Valdez and the California tobacco case. In other words, this is a heavyweight player. On the Kentucky case, McGowan & Hood, a firm which has won major class actions lawsuits, including medical device cases, has signed up.

Lender-Processing-Services-Federal-Bankruptcy-Suit-Second-Amended-Complaint
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© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in bankruptcy, CONTROL FRAUD, corruption, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, lps default solutions Inc., trade secrets0 Comments

False Statements| Bank of America, Florida Default Law Group, Law Offices of David Stern, Lender Processing Services, Litton Loan Servicing, Cheryl Samons, Security Connections, Inc.

False Statements| Bank of America, Florida Default Law Group, Law Offices of David Stern, Lender Processing Services, Litton Loan Servicing, Cheryl Samons, Security Connections, Inc.

False Statements

Bank of America
Florida Default Law Group
Law Offices of David Stern
Lender Processing Services
Litton Loan Servicing, LP
Cheryl Samons
Security Connections, Inc.

Action Date: October 10, 2010
Location: Charlotte, NC

On October 8, 2010, Bank of America announced it was extending its suspension of foreclosures to all 50 states. A review of the documents used by Bank of America to foreclose readily shows why this was the only appropriate action for Bank of America. In thousands of cases, Bank of America has used Mortgage Assignments specially prepared just for foreclosure litigation. On these assignments, the identity of the mortgage company officer assigning the mortgage to BOA is wrongly stated. Who has signed most frequently as mortgage officers on mortgage assignments used by BOA to foreclose? Regular signers include the “robo-signers” from Lender Processing Services in both Alpharetta, Georgia and Mendota Heights, Minnesota. LPS employees Liquenda Allotey, Greg Allen, John Cody and others, using dozens of different corporate titles, sign mortgage assignments stating BOA has acquired certain mortgages. When the mortgages involved originated from First Franklin Bank, BOA used Security Connections, Inc. in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Employees Melissa Hively, Vicki Sorg and Krystal Hall also signed for many different corporations for BOA. Litton Loan Servicing in Houston, Texas, a company owned by Goldman Sachs, also produced documents as needed by BOA, usually signed by Denise Bailey, Diane Dixon or Marti Noriega signing as officers of at least a dozen different mortgage companies and banks. BOA also has used mortgage assignments signed by Cheryl Samons, the office administrator for the Law Offices of David Stern, who has admitted to signing thousands of mortgage documents each month with no actual knowledge of the contents. On other cases, employees of the law firm Florida Default Law Group have signed for BOA, using various titles, including claiming to be Vice Presidents of Wells Fargo Bank, all while failing to disclose they actually worked for Florida Default. in most of these cases, BOA is acting as Trustee for residential mortgage-backed securitized trusts. These trusts are claiming to have acquired the mortgages in 2009 and 2010, even though the trusts deadline for acquiring mortgages was often in 2006 and 2007. In hundreds of cases, the mortgage assignments presented by BOA are actually signed months AFTER the foreclosure actions were commenced. At least 50 trusts using BOA as Trustee are involved in using these fraudulent documents. Each trust has between $1.5 billion and $2 billion of mortgages. The BOA documents have been used in thousands of cases, pending and completed, for at least three years. This massive problem cannot be “fixed” in 90 days, but a nationwide suspension of foreclosures is a good, responsible beginning.


© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, florida default law group, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, fraud digest, Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A., Lender Processing Services Inc., Litton, LPS, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ2 Comments

WHY WELLS FARGO MUST BE ORDERED TO STOP ITS FORECLOSURES

WHY WELLS FARGO MUST BE ORDERED TO STOP ITS FORECLOSURES

False Statements

AMERICA’S SERVICING COMPANY
LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.

Action Date: October 7, 2010
Location: Palm Beach County, FL

WHY WELLS FARGO MUST BE ORDERED TO STOP ITS FORECLOSURES. While other banks have acknowledged some problems and halted some foreclosures, Wells Fargo has issued self-serving statements and forged ahead.

Why should Wells Fargo be ordered to stop its foreclosures? First, Wells Fargo’s foreclosure mill, America’s Servicing Company, and its robo-signers John Herman Kennerty, China Brown, Heather Carrico, Natasha Clark and others signed thousands of documents each month with no knowledge of the truth of the matters set forth for the courts in those documents. The sheer volume of the documents signed by Kennerty should be enough to convince any court that Kennerty had no knowledge of the facts.

A court in Brooklyn found a case where Kennerty’s signature was notarized, but actually did not appear on the document. The notary was mindlessly signing a stack of documents.

Which law firms are submitting the Affidavits in Florida for Wells Fargo? Florida Default Law Group and the Law Offices of David Stern, two of the law firms under investigation by the Florida Attorney General. Second, Wells Fargo used Docx in Alpharetta, Georgia to produce mortgage assignments used in thousands of Wells Fargo foreclosures. Many different employees signed the name “Linda Green” on these documents. (For three examples of mortgage assignments used by Wells Fargo, click on the “Pleadings” section of this website – no sign-on is necessary.)

Despite the statements of Lender Processing Services to the contrary, Docx “Linda Green” Affidavits – with many versions of the Linda Green signature – continued to appear in Wells Fargo cases well into 2009. Examples are also in the Pleadings Section. The Perry Affidavit was signed July 10, 2008, but notarized January 15, 2009. The Carrerra Affidavit was signed in January 2008, but notarized in January, 2009. On these few examples, Linda Green is identified as the Vice President of Wells Fargo bank, the Vice President of Sand Canyon Mortgage and the Vice President of American Home Mortgage Servicing. Most are notarized by the same notary, Brittany Snow, who says she has personal knowledge that Linda Green is Vice President of these many entities.

In the first quarter of 2010, Wells Fargo filed 1,117 foreclosure actions in Palm Beach County. In the second quarter, Wells Fargo filed 920 foreclosures in Palm Beach County. In the third quarter, Wells Fargo filed 847 foreclosures. In the vast majority of these foreclosures, Wells Fargo is acting as a trustee for a mortgage-backed securitized trust that cannot even prove that it acquired the mortgages without relying on the Linda Green and John Kennerty documents.

This is not the time to stonewall. THE FDIC AND OCC, THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY AND THE SECRETARY OF HOUSING NEED TO STOP THE WELLS FARGO FORECLOSURES.


© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, fraud digest, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, wells fargo16 Comments

Lender Processing Services Discusses Legal Issues

Lender Processing Services Discusses Legal Issues

by Brett Horn | 10-06-10 | 9:09AM | E-mail Note

Lender Processing Services LPS held a conference call Wednesday to discuss its involvement in the mortgage foreclosure controversy and recent allegations against the company. Through its mortgage default services segment, which constitutes about half of the company’s revenue, LPS is deeply involved in processing mortgage foreclosures. Recently, with mortgage foreclosures heating up, there has been controversy surrounding lenders’ foreclosure procedures, which has led a few major mortgage lenders to halt foreclosures until they can verify that they are following the letter of the law. The main source of contention surrounds a practice called robo-signing. Whereas judicial foreclosure requires each foreclosure to be reviewed and vetted by someone knowledgeable about the case, lenders may have had employees signing foreclosures en masse without review. LPS had previously issued a press release stating that it is not involved in this practice, and it reiterated the point on the call. At this point, we see no reason to believe this is not correct, and we don’t see this as a major issue for the company.

The company also discussed two recent lawsuits filed against it, which allege that LPS illegally splits fees with foreclosure lawyers.

[…]

Continue reading…MORNING STAR

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Related:

LPS 101

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Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) Revolving Door To Washington D.C.

© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, DOCX, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS4 Comments

CA CONGRESS DELEGATES SEND LETTER TO BERNAKE, HOLDER and WALSH ON FORECLOSURE FRAUD

CA CONGRESS DELEGATES SEND LETTER TO BERNAKE, HOLDER and WALSH ON FORECLOSURE FRAUD

California Democratic Congressional Delegation Urges Bank Investigations

PDF Print
 
October 5, 2010
 
Washington, D.C. – Today, California Democratic Congressional Delegation (CDCD) members sent a letter to Attorney General Holder, Federal Reserve Chair Bernanke, and Comptroller of the Currency Walsh requesting investigations into systemic wrongdoing by financial institutions in their handling of delinquent mortgages, mortgage modifications, and foreclosures. Delegation members have received thousands of complaints from their constituents, which appear to outline a clear pattern of misconduct on the part of lenders and servicers. Recent press accounts have also reinforced the view that these institutions are routinely failing to respond in a timely manner, misplacing requested documents, and misleading both borrowers and the government about loan modifications, forbearances, and other housing related applications.  
 
“It’s clear that even after promising to work with borrowers, and receiving government incentives to do so, financial institutions are simply stringing the American people along,” noted Delegation Chair, Rep. Zoe Lofgren. “After reviewing thousands of complaints from our constituents, it appears that we aren’t dealing with isolated incidents and that a pattern of misconduct and obstruction is present.”  
 
 
 
Full Text of Letter:
 
Dear Attorney General Holder, Chairman Bernanke and Comptroller Dugan, As members of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, we urge you and your respective agencies to investigate possible violations of law or regulations by financial institutions in their handling of delinquent mortgages, mortgage modifications, and foreclosures.
 
Over the last few years, thousands of our constituents have reported that many financial institutions, despite good faith efforts on the part of most homeowners to work out reasonable loan modifications or simply seek forbearance of foreclosure, routinely fail to respond in a timely manner, misplace requested documents, and send mixed signals about the requirements that need to be met to avoid foreclosures. We are particularly perplexed by this apparent pattern in light of the many incentives Congress and the Obama Administration have offered to servicers and lenders to avoid foreclosures where financially viable, including subsidies and loan guarantees from taxpayers. Avoidable foreclosures end up being unnecessarily costly for homeowners, lenders and servicers, and our housing market, whose health is essential to our economic recovery.  
 
The apparent pattern reported by our constituents leads us to conclude that their problems are not just personal anecdotes anymore. Recent reports that Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) and JP Morgan may have approved thousands of unwarranted foreclosures only amplify our concerns that systemic problems exist in the ways many financial institutions have dealt with homeowners who are seeking to avoid foreclosures.  
 
who are seeking to avoid foreclosures. We are now in the third year of the worst housing crisis we have seen in decades. Far too many families in California, and across the country, continue to lose their homes. While Congress and the Obama Administration have taken steps to help mitigate the housing problem, this devastation has persisted and, in fact, worsened as the country’s unemployment rate increased. We have heard numerous stories of financial institutions being uncooperative at best or misleading and acting in bad faith at worst. These heartbreaking stories are commonplace, persisting across the state and across lenders and servicers. As you can see from the attached document, which highlights examples of casework throughout California, it appears that banks have repeatedly misled and obstructed homeowners from receiving the help Congress and the Administration have sought to provide.
 
The excuses we have heard from financial institutions are simply not credible three years into this crisis. People in our districts are hurting. We have tried to help them in the face of the many challenges they have faced in their dealings with financial institutions. It is time that banks are held accountable for their practices that have left too many homeowners without real help.
 
Sincerely,  
Zoe Lofgren 
 
 

The California Democratic Congressional Delegation consists of 34 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives from California. This group outnumbers all other state House delegations – Republicans and Democrats combined.  

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© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, congress, CONTROL FRAUD, deed of trust, DOCX, fannie mae, federal reserve board, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, Moratorium, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, stopforeclosurefraud.com, Violations, Wall Street1 Comment

KABOOM BOOM BOOM!! ATTORNEY NICK WOOTEN CLASS ACTION AGAINST WELLS FARGO, LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES INC.

KABOOM BOOM BOOM!! ATTORNEY NICK WOOTEN CLASS ACTION AGAINST WELLS FARGO, LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES INC.

We all have come to know Mr. Wooten for his brilliant, outstanding, incredible job deposing the MERSCORP Executives.

This complaint will chip the concrete, titanium walls these corporations have  shielded behind for quite some time.

From: Brian Davies

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Posted in assignment of mortgage, LPS, lps default solutions Inc., MERS, MERSCORP, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., Nick Wooten, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, stopforeclosurefraud.com, trustee, Trusts, wells fargo2 Comments

MUST WATCH VIDEO: “FREEZING FORECLOSURES” on GOOD MORNING AMERICA ABC NEWS

MUST WATCH VIDEO: “FREEZING FORECLOSURES” on GOOD MORNING AMERICA ABC NEWS

Congratulations… Tywanna Thomas makes Good Morning America. Tywanna Thomas is/was an employee of Lender Processing Services/ DOCX and these documents were executed in DOCX’s office in Alpharetta, GA.

You may see her many signatures and employers below. “It’s not just her”

“If your going to take my house away from me you better be able to prove you own my house and you have the right to take the house away” -GERRY WILLIS

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Link to the source: ABCNEWS.com
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http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/YourMoney/video/banks-freeze-faulty-foreclosures-11792395


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© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, CONTROL FRAUD, DOCX, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, investigation, jeffrey stephan, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., Notary, note, robo signers, Tywanna Thomas4 Comments

KENTUCKY RICO CLASS ACTION INVOLVING MERSCORP, LPS, DOCX, GMAC, DEUTSCHE BANK, US BANK et al

KENTUCKY RICO CLASS ACTION INVOLVING MERSCORP, LPS, DOCX, GMAC, DEUTSCHE BANK, US BANK et al

KABOOM!!

I have a feeling this is not the last…

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© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, class action, deutsche bank, DOCX, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, Lender Processing Services Inc., linda green, LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., RICO, robo signers, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD6 Comments

NYSC LPS FORECLOSURE AFFIDAVIT ‘NO PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE’ & ‘FAILURE IN SUPPORT’

NYSC LPS FORECLOSURE AFFIDAVIT ‘NO PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE’ & ‘FAILURE IN SUPPORT’

INDEX NO. 16 150-2008
SUPREME COURT – STATE OF NEW YORK
I.A.S. PART 17 – SUFFOLK COUNTY
P R E S E N T :
Hon. PETER H. MAYER
Justice of the Supreme Court

BENEFICIAL HOMEOWNER SERVICE CORPORATION,

v.

TODD L. MASOTTI

In this foreclosure action, the plaintiff filed a summons and complaint on April 24, 2008, which essentially alleges that the defendant-homeowner(s), Todd L. Masotti and Michelle Casey, defaulted in payments with regard to a mortgage, dated September 20,2004, in the principal amount of $311,842.43, for the premises located at 38 Crestwood Lane, Farmingville, New York. Although the plaintiff annexes a power of attorney permitting “LPS Default Solutions, Inc.” to act on its behalf, the affidavit of merit is by an employee of “Lender Processing Services, Inc.” According to the court’s database, a foreclosure settlement conference was held on June 23,2010. The plaintiff now seeks a default order of reference and requests amendment of the caption to remove the “Doe” defendants. The plaintiffs application is denied for the following reasons:

(1) failure to submit evidentiary proof of compliance with the requirements of CPLR 3215(f), including but not limited to a proper affidavit of facts by the plaintiff [or by plaintiffs agent, provided there is proper proof in evidentiary form of such agency relationship], or a complaint verified by the plaintiff and not merely by an attorney or non-party, such as a servicer, who has no personal knowledge; and

(2) failure to submit an affidavit in support, which is in a properly sworn form, as required by CPLR 15 2 3 0 9( b) .

This constitutes the Decision and Order of the Court.
Dated: August 6, 2010

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© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosures, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, lps default solutions Inc., mortgage, note, robo signers, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, stopforeclosurefraud.com, Supreme Court1 Comment

MUST READ| IS LPS’s Aptitude Solutions Software In Your County Courts & Land Records???

MUST READ| IS LPS’s Aptitude Solutions Software In Your County Courts & Land Records???

Aptitude Solutions’ ShowCase & OnCore Acclaim Software to Provide Greater Efficiency and
Secure Access to Courts & Land Records Information

This is IMPORTANT!!! They may go under similar names.

07/16/2010 – Lake County, Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court Signs with Aptitude Solutions for Court Case Management and Land Records Software – Read Story

07/15/2010 – Arapahoe County, Colorado, Clerk and Recorder Implements Aptitude Solutions’ Land Fraud Registration and Notification System – Read Story

07/1/2010 – Webb County, Texas, County Clerk’s Office Signs with Aptitude Solutions’ for Oncore Acclaim Land Records Software System – Read Story

05/03/2010 – San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk to Implement LPS Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Acclaim Recording System – Read Story

04/29/2010 – Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller to Implement LPS Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Acclaim Recording System – Read Story

02/22/2010 – Arapahoe County, Colorado, Implements Aptitude Solutions’ Software Suite, including the OnCore Recording Platform, For Greater Efficiency and Records Access – Read Story

02/11/2010 – Johnston County, N.C. Register of Deeds uses Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording Software for Electronic Recording of Survey Maps – Read Story

01/25/2010 – Broward County, Florida, Implements Aptitude Solutions’ Automated Indexing Optical Character Recognition Technology with OnCore – Read Story

01/25/2010 – Larimer County, Colorado, Implements Aptitude Solutions’ Automated Indexing Optical Character Recognition Technology with OnCore – Read Story

01/25/2010 – Johnston County, N.C. Register of Deeds Implements Aptitude Solutions’ Automated Redaction Software for Protecting Sensitive Information in Public Records – Read Story

01/04/2010 – Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Implements Aptitude Solutions Automated Redaction Software for Protecting Sensitive Information in Public Records – Read Story

11/20/2009 – Cherokee County Clerk of Superior Court Signs Contract with Aptitude Solutions for Court Case Management Software – Read Story

11/12/2009 – Tipton County, Indiana, Signs with Aptitude Solutions to Implement the OnCore Recording Platform & Automated Redaction System – Read Story

10/26/2009 – Arapahoe County, Colorado, Signs with Aptitude Solutions to Implement the OnCore Recording Platform for Greater Efficiency and Access – Read Story

09/01/2009 – Union County, Florida, Upgrades OnCore to Aptitude Solutions’ New Acclaim System for Official Records Recording – Read Story

08/24/2009 – Douglas County, Colorado Clerk and Recorder Implements Aptitude Solutions OnCore Recording and Indexing Platform – Read Story

08/03/2009 – Lender Processing Services’ Aptitude Solutions Announces OnCore Software Implementation in Largest County in Nevada – Read Story

06/22/2009 – Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller to Implement Lender Processing Services Aptitude Solutions’ Court Case Management System – Read Story

06/08/2009 – Nevada County, California, Implements Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording Platform For Greater Efficiency and Access – Read Story

05/01/2009 – Erie County Ohio Recorder’s Office Live with Aptitude Solutions OnCore Recording System – Read Story

05/01/2009 – Douglas County, Washington Auditor Recording Office Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

05/01/2009 – Aptitude Solutions Announces New Representative in Indiana – Read Story

05/01/2009 – Broward County Florida Recording Office to Implement Aptitude Solutions’ Automated Indexing – Read Story

02/17/2009 – Lender Processing Services’ Aptitude Solutions Selected To Implement Automated Land Records System for Nevada’s Largest County – Read Story

01/01/2009 – Land Fraud Notification and Identity Theft Prevention by Aptitude Solutions – Read Story

01/01/2009 – Davidson County, North Carolina Register of Deeds Now eRecording – Read Story

01/01/2009 – Aptitude Solutions County Recording and Indexing Solutions Provider Approved by the State of North Carolina – Read Story

01/01/2009 – Erie County, Ohio Recorder’s Office to Implement Aptitude Solutions OnCore Recording System – Read Story

01/01/2009 – Douglas County, Colorado Clerk and Recorder Selects Aptitude Solutions for Recording and Indexing Platform – Read Story

01/01/2009 – Aptitude Solutions Announces New Sales Representative in the State of Texas – Read Story

01/01/2009 – Aptitude Solutions Announces New Sales Representative in the State of Georgia – Read Story

11/20/2008 – Nevada County, California Clerk – Recorder’s Office Signs with Aptitude Solutions for OnCore Recording System – Read Story

10/09/2008 – Rockingham County, North Carolina Register of Deeds Complete Historical Digitization and Preservation – Read Story

10/07/2008 – Aptitude Solutions Selected for Clark County, Nevada Recorder’s Office Software RFP – Read Story

10/02/2008 – Skamania County, Washington Auditors’ Office Live with Automated Indexing – Read Story

09/29/2008 – Bradford County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Tribute Tax Deed System – Read Story

09/29/2008 – Franklin County, Washington Auditors’ Office Live with Automated Indexing – Read Story

09/22/2008 – Clarendon County, South Carolina Register of Deeds Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore – Read Story

09/22/2008 – Pulaski County, Arkansas Circuit Clerk Live with Automated Indexing and Redaction – Read Story

09/18/2008 – Walton County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Electronic Recording – Read Story

09/17/2008 – Levy County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Automated Indexing and Redaction Systems – Read Story

09/02/2008 – Tulsa County, Oklahoma Goes Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

08/11/2008 – Chelan County, Washington Auditor Recording Office Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

08/08/2008 – Aptitude Solutions Electronic Recording Certified by State of California ERDS – Read Story

07/17/2008 – Santa Rosa County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Electronic Recording – Read Story

07/07/2008 – Hillsborough County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Automated Indexing and Redaction Systems – Read Story

06/10/2008 – Collier County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Aptitude Solutions Showcase CMS – Read Story

04/21/2008 – Tulsa County, Oklahoma Upon being awarded the bid on April 14th, Tulsa County Clerk officially signs contracts with Aptitude Solutions to provide OnCore, aiIndex, and aiRedact – Read Story

04/16/2008 – Johnston County, North Carolina Register of Deeds Receives eRecording Award – Read Story

04/06/2008 – Davidson County, North Carolina Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

03/31/2008 – Chelan County, Washington Clerk Signs with Aptitude Solutions to implement OnCore Recording System

03/31/2008 – Clarendon County, South Carolina Clerk Signs with Aptitude Solutions to implement OnCore Recording System – Read Story

03/31/2008 – Nassau County, Florida Live with Aptitude Solutions’ Tribute

03/31/2008 – Skamania County, Washington Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System

03/31/2008 – Putnam County, Ohio Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System

03/31/2008 – Duval County, Florida Clerk of Court Civil Departments Go Live with Aptitude Solutions’ ShowCase System on Schedule – Read Story

03/05/2008 – Franklin County, Washington Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

02/26/2008 – Hillsborough County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Electronic Recording – Read Story

01/01/2008 – Pinellas County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Automated Indexing and Redaction Systems – Read Story

12/04/2007 – Escambia County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Tribute Tax Deed System – Read Story

11/05/2007 – Pulaski County, Arkansas Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

11/01/2007 – Escambia County, Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court Live with Automated Indexing and Redaction – Read Story

10/29/2007 – Simplifile and Aptitude Solutions enter into Strategic eRecordings Alliance – Read Story

10/28/2007 – Pickens County, South Carolina Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

10/18/2007 – Collier County, Florida Clerk of Court Selects Aptitude Solutions Showcase Court System – Read Story

10/18/2007 – Duval County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with ShowCase Felony and Juvenile – Read Story

10/16/2007 – Franklin County, Washington Auditor to Implement Aptitude Solutions OnCore Recording System and Automated Indexing – Read Story

10/01/2007 – Manatee County, Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court Live with Automated Redaction – Read Story

09/24/2007 – Pulaski County, Arkansas Clerk Signs with Aptitude Solutions – Read Story

08/30/2007 – Hillsborough County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Tribute Tax Deed System – Read Story

08/27/2007 – Glynn County Georgia Clerk of Superior Court Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

08/20/2007 – Putnam County, Ohio Recorder to implement Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

08/20/2007 – Pickens County, South Carolina to implement Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

08/20/2007 – Rockingham County, North Carolina Register of Deeds Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

08/06/2007 – Grand County, Colorado Clerk & Recorder Go Live with Aptitude
Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

08/06/2007 – Mesa County, Colorado Clerk and Recorder Live with Automated Indexing – Read Story

08/06/2007 – Montrose County, Colorado Clerk and Recorder Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

08/06/2007 – Pitkin County, Clerk and Recorder Live with Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

08/01/2007 – Broward County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Automated Redaction – Read Story

08/01/2007 – Baker County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Automated Redaction and Automated Indexing – Read Story

08/01/2007 – Gilchrist County, Florida Clerk of Court Live with Automated Redaction – Read Story

08/01/2007 – Johnston County, North Carolina Register of Deeds Goes Live with Aptitude Solutions’ Automated Indexing Technology – Read Story

07/17/2007 – Duval County, Clerk of Court Live with Showcase Court Case Management System – Read Story

07/03/2007 – Brevard County, Clerk of Court Live with Tribute Tax Deed System – Read Story

05/29/2007 – Levy County, Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court to implement Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

05/04/2007 – Horry County, South Carolina Register of Deeds Implements Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

03/01/2007 – Rockingham County, North Carolina Register of Deeds to implement Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Recording System – Read Story

11/13/2006 – Hillsborough County Clerk of Court Implements Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Official Records System – Read Story

11/13/2006 – Brevard County Clerk of Court Implements Aptitude Solutions’ OnCore Official Records System – Read Story

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Posted in assignment of mortgage, CONTROL FRAUD, deed of trust, DOCX, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD3 Comments

Documents Show CitiMortgage and Wells Fargo Also Commit Foreclosure Fraud

Documents Show CitiMortgage and Wells Fargo Also Commit Foreclosure Fraud

More of MESCORPS “Shareholders”. Make sure you catch their “old evidence” below…and have a barf bag because this is going to make you sick!

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By ABIGAIL FIELD Posted 6:29 PM 10/01/10

Documents submitted to a court are supposed to be true as submitted. As an attorney, If I file a document with a court in which I swore I personally verified that the information contained within the document is true, and I didn’t actually do that, I’d get in real trouble. It’s simple: That’s fraud in the eyes of the court.

GMAC, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America recently admitted that their employees routinely sign thousands of documents without verifying what they’re signing. Those documents are then submitted to courts as if the documents were true, to enable the banks to foreclose on delinquent properties. Wells Fargo and CitiMortgage told the New York Times their employees do not engage in similar practices. Yet new evidence shows they do.

Confusion at Wells Fargo
Herman John Kennerty of Wells Fargo has given a deposition describing the department he oversees for Wells Fargo. It’s a department dedicated to simply signing documents. Kennerty testified that he signs 50 to 150 documents a day, verifying only the date on each. What else might he want to verify? Well, in one document he signed, he supposedly transferred the mortgage from Washington Mutual Bank FA to Wells Fargo on July 12, 2010. But that’s impossible, since Washington Mutual Bank FA changed its name in 2004, and by any name WaMu ceased to exist in 2008, when the FDIC took it over. Making the document even less comprehensible, the debtor had declared bankruptcy a month earlier, according to Linda Tirelli, who represented the debtor. Why would Wells Fargo want a mortgage from someone in bankruptcy? Finally, Tirelli pointed out that the papers Wells Fargo filed included a different transfer of the mortgage dated three days before the debtor took out the loan. The documents are a mess, yet Kennerty signed them regardless.

Legal Nonsense at CitiMortgage

Similarly, one M. Matthews signed a number of documents that CitiMortgage has used to try to foreclose on properties. While Matthews may or may not sign hundreds of documents a day — I have not yet found a deposition in which he swears that he does — he certainly does not verify the contents of the documents he’s signing. For example, he signed a document supposedly transferring a mortgage from Lehman Brothers to Citi in 2009. It’s hard to see how that’s possible, since Lehman had already ceased to exist. When confronted with its nonsensical filing, Citigroup decided not to foreclose. Instead, it gave the homeowner a meaningful mortgage modification–$15,000 principal reduction, plus a 30 year fixed mortgage at 3%. Tirelli, who represented the debtor in that case too, notes that she sees bad documents in the vast majority of cases, and she keeps files of “robosigned” documents.

It’s true that in both the WaMu and Lehman Brothers documents, the signers were officially representing an entity called MERS and acting as the “nominee” of WaMu and the “nominee” of Lehman Brothers. But that doesn’t change the fraudulent nature of the documents as filed. MERS can’t continue to be the nominee of an entity that doesn’t exist. Moreover, MERS can’t assign something it doesn’t have, and MERS itself will admit it doesn’t own the underlying note or mortgage.

Possible Sanctions for JPMorgan Chase
Wells Fargo and CitiMortgage aren’t the only big banks to misrepresent their practices in the media; JPMorgan Chase told the New York Times that it had not withdrawn any documents in a pending case. However, Chase has in fact withdrawn robosigned documents in a case Tirelli is currently defending. Chase now faces possible sanctions in the case.

Why are the big, sophisticated banks submitting such problematic documents to the courts? The key reason is that sometimes when a bank wants to foreclose, it has to prove it actually has the right to foreclose — that it owns the note and accompanying mortgage. Unfortunately for the banks, the securitization of mortgages and the changes in property ownership documentation that accompanied it make it hard for the banks to establish clean chains of title and produce original documents. Hard, that is, in an environment where a massive number of foreclosures must be started and completed in a timely manner.

See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/amvWqK

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RELATED:

HEY NY TIMES…’NO PROOF’ JEFFREY STEPHAN HAS AUTHORITY TO EXECUTE AFFIDAVIT FOR WELLS FARGO

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Homeowner fights foreclosure in lawsuit claiming documents are fraudulent


THE ACTUAL DEPOSITION IN THIS CASE CITMORTGAGE v. BROWN

DEPOSITION OF NOTARY SHANNON SMITH OF THIS CASE

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MORE ON THIS CASE & FIRM BELOW

_________________

Take Two: *New* Full Deposition of Law Office of David J. Stern’s Cheryl Samons

_________________

Law Offices of David J. Stern, MERS | Assignment of Mortgage NOT EXECUTED but RECORDED

_________________

Cheryl Samons | No Signature, No Notary, 1 Witness…No Problem!

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STERN’S CHERYL SAMONS| SHANNON SMITH Assignment Of Mortgage| NOTARY FRAUD!

_________________________________________________

MAESTRO PLEASE…AND THE WINNER OF THE “MOST JOB TITLES” CONTEST IS…

JOHN KENNERTY, a/k/a HERMAN JOHN KENNERTY

JOHN KENNERTY a/k/a Herman John Kennerty has been employed for many years in the Ft. Mill, SC offices of America’s Servicing Company, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. He signed many different job titles on mortgage-related documents, often using different titles on the same day. He often signs as an officer of MERS (“Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.”) On many Mortgage Assignments signed by Kennerty, Wells Fargo, or the trust serviced by ASC, is shown as acquiring the mortgage weeks or even months AFTER the foreclosure action is filed.

Titles attributed to John Kennerty include the following:

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for 1st Continental Mortgage Corp.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for American Brokers Conduit;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for American Enterprise Bank of Florida;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for American Home Mortgage;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Amnet Mortgage, Inc. d/b/a American Mortgage Network of Florida;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Bayside Mortgage Services, Inc.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for CT Mortgage, Inc.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for First Magnus Financial Corporation, an Arizona Corp.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for First National Bank of AZ;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Fremont Investment & Loan;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Group One Mortgage, Inc.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Guaranty Bank;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Homebuyers Financial, LLC;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for IndyMac Bank, FSB, a Federally Chartered Savings Bank (in June 2010);

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Irwin Mortgage Corporation;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Ivanhoe Financial, Inc., a Delaware Corp.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Mortgage Network, Inc.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Ohio Savings Bank;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Paramount Financial, Inc.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Pinnacle Direct Funding Corp.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for RBC Mortgage Company;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Seacoast National Bank;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Shelter Mortgage Company, LLC;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Stuart Mortgage Corp.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Suntrust Mortgage;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Transaland Financial Corp.;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Universal American Mortgage Co., LLC;

Asst. Secretary, MERS, as Nominee for Wachovia Mortgage Corp.;

Vice President of Loan Documentation, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.;

Vice President of Loan Documentation, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., successor by merger to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc. f/k/a Norwest Mortgage, Inc.

© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, Beth Cottrell, bogus, chain in title, citimortgage, CONTROL FRAUD, corruption, deed of trust, erica johnson seck, Erika Herrera, fannie mae, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, herman john kennerty, investigation, linda green, LPS, Max Gardner, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, wells fargo3 Comments

CAVEAT EMPTOR |MERS Transfers May Have Cloud Homeownership With `Blighted Titles’

CAVEAT EMPTOR |MERS Transfers May Have Cloud Homeownership With `Blighted Titles’

This is what this site is about…”ClOUDED TITLES”! This quote below should have added that it was in 65 Million mortgages not in some. I hope you all read my NO. THERE’S NO LIFE AT MERS…I highly recommend it because it came the heart.


In some cases, mortgages were conveyed using the Reston, Virginia-based Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, designed to cover transfers among system members. Promissory notes also often were endorsed as payable to the bearer to avoid the need for multiple transfers. Both practices have been challenged in court.

Foreclosure Errors Cloud Homeownership With `Blighted Titles’

By Kathleen M. Howley – Oct 1, 2010 12:00 AM ET

U.S. courts are clogged with a record number of foreclosures. Next, they may be jammed with suits contesting property rights as procedural mistakes in those cases cloud titles establishing ownership.

“Defective documentation has created millions of blighted titles that will plague the nation for the next decade,” said Richard Kessler, an attorney in Sarasota, Florida, who conducted a study that found errors in about three-fourths of court filings related to home repossessions.

Attorneys general in at least six states are investigating borrowers’ claims that some of the nation’s largest home lenders and loan servicers are making misstatements in foreclosures. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is asking judges to postpone foreclosure rulings, while Ally Financial Inc. said Sept. 21 its GMAC Mortgage unit would halt evictions. The companies said employees may have completed affidavits without confirming their accuracy.

Such mistakes may allow former owners to challenge the repossession of homes long after the properties are resold, according to Kessler. Ownership questions may not arise until a home is under contract and the potential purchaser applies for title insurance or even decades later as one deed researcher catches errors overlooked by another. A so-called defective title means the person who paid for and moved into a house may not be the legal owner.

‘Nightmare Scenario’

“It’s a nightmare scenario,” said John Vogel, a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. “There are lots of land mines related to title issues that may come to light long after we think we’ve solved the housing problem.”

Almost one-fourth of U.S. home sales in the second quarter involved properties in some stage of mortgage distress, RealtyTrac Inc. said yesterday. In August, lenders took possession of record 95,364 homes and issued foreclosure filings to 338,836 homeowners, or one out of every 381 U.S. households, according to the Irvine, California-based data seller.

The biggest deficiency in foreclosure suits is missing or improperly handled documents, Kessler found in his study of court filings in Florida’s Sarasota County. When home loans are granted, borrowers sign a promissory note outlining payment obligations and a separate mortgage that puts an encumbrance on the property in the lender’s name. If mortgages are resold, both documents must be properly conveyed to prevent competing claims.

Mortgage Bonds

Most of the document errors involved mortgages that had been bundled into securities sold to investors, Kessler said. At the end of the U.S. real estate boom in 2005 and 2006, about 70 percent of the $6.1 trillion in mortgage lending was packaged into bonds, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association in New York.

Continue reading…BLOOMBERG

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© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, auction, Bank Owned, bloomberg, bogus, chain in title, CONTROL FRAUD, corruption, deed of trust, DOCX, Economy, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, jpmorgan chase, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, mortgage, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., note, rmbs, robo signers, securitization, servicers, stopforeclosurefraud.com, sub-prime2 Comments

DOCX / LPS Price List…any documents you want!

DOCX / LPS Price List…any documents you want!

Looks like this is becoming more and more like a fabricating factory mill full of ?????????

DOCX’s GetNet™ Document Recovery solution is a national network of runners that is engaged to provide document recovery, expedited recordation services, title searches, and insurance submissions.

The service is unique in that our clients can request that DOCX obtain any missing recordable documents through this web site through our online GetNet™ Work Order Form. Status of existing projects can also be obtained through our Online Services.

We also accept work orders the “old fashioned” way via fax or mail. Upon receipt of the work order, DOCX will access the national network of runners, place the order and follow up to ensure prompt delivery.

GetNet™ was designed to assist mortgage servicers in meeting agency certifications and to avoid costly penalties for filing late satisfaction pieces.

GetNet™ Features

  • A National Network of title runners retains presence in every county jurisdiction nationwide.
  • Obtains missing mortgage documents, assignments, title policies and LGC/MICs.
  • Expedites recordation by physically walking documents in to county recorder offices.
  • Provides title searches to identify mortgage holders.
  • Provides online reporting capabilities.

GETNET™ RATE SHEET

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© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, bogus, concealment, conflict of interest, CONTROL FRAUD, corruption, DOCX, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD3 Comments

Fraud Factories, MERS, LPS, Forgeries: Rep. Alan Grayson Explains the Foreclosure Fraud Crisis

Fraud Factories, MERS, LPS, Forgeries: Rep. Alan Grayson Explains the Foreclosure Fraud Crisis

RepAlanGrayson | September 30, 2010
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This is Rep. Alan Grayson explaining the crisis of foreclosure fraud and how it links to the entire securitization chain of Wall Street.

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One of My First Videos 2/10/2010

This is what made plenty of noise!


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This is the actual “BOGUS ASSIGNEE” that was found…then came many.


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© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, bogus, chain in title, CONTROL FRAUD, corruption, dinsfla, DOCX, fannie mae, florida default law group, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, investigation, jeff carbiener, jeffrey stephan, Kristine Wilson, Law Office Of Steven J. Baum, Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A., law offices of Marshall C. Watson pa, Lender Processing Services Inc., linda green, LPS, mbs, MERS, MERSCORP, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud, notary fraud, note, robo signers, securitization, shapiro & fishman pa, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, stopforeclosurefraud.com, sub-prime, Supreme Court, trade secrets, Tywanna Thomas1 Comment

Robo-Signer Called Out in Ohio by Attorney General Cordray

Robo-Signer Called Out in Ohio by Attorney General Cordray

The Honorable Judge
County Court of Common Pleas

Re: Foreclosure Affidavits

Dear Judge XXXXX, I write you, and the other presiding and administrative judges of the Ohio Courts of Common Pleas, to draw your attention to an issue that may be of interest to you.

As you are aware, when a plaintiff in a foreclosure case moves for default or summary judgment, it will attach an affidavit from the lender or mortgage servicer attesting to the ownership and default status of loan. During the last week, questions have arisen about the validity of the foreclosure affidavits filed by a large servicer, GMAC Mortgage. GMAC (also operating as “Ally Financial”) issued a press release on September 20, 2010 announcing that it had directed certain of its vendors to suspend evictions and REO closings because of “a potential issue that was raised in a number of existing foreclosures challenging the internal procedure we used for executing one or more judicially required forms.”

A number of media outlets, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, reported on this statement. The news articles suggest that GMAC’s actions are related to a Florida deposition and a Maine deposition given by one of its employees, Jeffrey Stephan. Mr. Stephan signed thousands of foreclosure affidavits for GMAC, but in his depositions stated that he does not have knowledge of how the information in the affidavit is determined (Deposition of Jeffrey Stephan, June 7, 2010, p 30), does not know how the accuracy of the information is verified (Id.), does not review the exhibits attached to the affidavit (Id., p 54), does not read every paragraph of the affidavit (Id. p 61), and does not have the affidavit notarized in his presence (Id., p 56).

The depositions were not taken by my office, so I do not opine on their accuracy, but I wanted to draw your attention to this issue. At least one court has found that filing affidavits that falsely claim personal knowledge is a violation of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act when filed in connection with consumer transactions. Midland Funding, LLC v. Brent, 644 F. Supp. 2d 961, 977 (N.D. Ohio, 2009).

More broadly, I urge you as administrators to share this letter with your colleagues and urge them to exercise caution when approving any foreclosure orders involving GMAC. Further, I encourage you to consider whether additional administrative procedures need to be established to protect homeowners who are facing the threat of foreclosure. Issues similar to those surrounding GMAC have arisen in Ohio. For example, my office filed an amicus brief in an appellate case where a foreclosure affidavit averred that it was executed in Florida but the jurat and notarization stated that it was executed in New Jersey. The 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by striking the faulty affidavit. HSBC Bank USA v. Thompson, 2010-Ohio-4158.

Please feel free to contact me or my Consumer Protection Section Chief, Susan Choe, at 614.466.1305, if we can be of any assistance regarding this letter.

Thank you.
Sincerely,
Richard Cordray
Ohio Attorney General

CC:
Sarah Lynn, Deputy Chief Counsel, Ohio Attorney General
Susan Choe, Consumer Protection Section Chief, Ohio Attorney General

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Posted in assignment of mortgage, chain in title, conflict of interest, CONTROL FRAUD, deed of trust, DOCX, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, investigation, jeffrey stephan, jpmorgan chase, LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, mortgage, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., notary fraud, robo signers, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, Supreme Court, TRO, Wall Street1 Comment

HERE COMES JPMORGAN CHASE, LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES…AND THE ROBO-SIGNERS

HERE COMES JPMORGAN CHASE, LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES…AND THE ROBO-SIGNERS

Mortgage Fraud

Chase Home Finance, LLC
Whitney Cook
Beth Cottrell
Margaret Dalton
JPMorgan Chase
Lender Processing Services
Long Beach Mortgage
Stacy Spohn
Christina Trowbridge
Washington Mutual Bank

Action Date: September 30, 2010
Location: New York, NY

On September 29, 2010, financial giant JP Morgan Chase announced it was suspending 56,000 foreclosures because its documents may have been “submitted without proper review.” To assist JPMorgan Chase, Fraud Digest suggests that it dismiss those actions where the Affidavits or Mortgage Assignments were signed by the following robo-signers: Beth Cottrell, Whitney Cook, Christina Trowbridge and Stacy Spohn from the Chase Home Finance office in Franklin County, OH; Margaret Dalton and Barbara Hindman from the Jacksonville, FL office of JPMorgan Chase; and any of the Lender Processing Services robo-signers from the Dakota County, MN office including Christina Allen, Liquenda Allotey, Christine Anderson, Alfonzo Greene, Laura Hescott, Bethany Hood, Cecelia Knox, Topako Love, Jodi Sobotta, Eric Tate, Amy Weis and Rick Wilken. In particular, JP Morgan Chase should look at those cases where the bank has supposedly assigned mortgages to WaMu, WMALT, Long Beach Mortgage Company and NovaStar trusts years after the closing dates of these trusts. The number of questionable or fraudulent documents is likely to be much closer to 560,000 than to 56,000, and that will only be a good beginning.

Sample Of The Work

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Posted in assignment of mortgage, chain in title, chase, conflict of interest, conspiracy, CONTROL FRAUD, corruption, deed of trust, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, fraud digest, investigation, jeffrey stephan, jpmorgan chase, Kristine Wilson, Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A., law offices of Marshall C. Watson pa, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, Moratorium, mortgage, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., Notary, robo signers, shapiro & fishman pa, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, stopforeclosurefraud.com, Supreme Court, Violations, Wall Street, wamu, washington mutual9 Comments

Florida Supreme Court Will Not Stop Foreclosure Mills Pending Investigations Of Fraud

Florida Supreme Court Will Not Stop Foreclosure Mills Pending Investigations Of Fraud

The Florida Supreme Court said today:

The Florida Constitution and court rules did not give the Chief Justice authority to intercede in pending cases involving attorney misconduct, or to investigate allegations of fraud or misconduct in foreclosure cases. The fraud cases must first beadjudicated in trial courts.

Congressman Grayson has asked the Florida Bar to take action.

Florida Default Law Group has been added as the fourth law firm under investigation along the Law offices of David J. Stern, Shapiro & Fishman and Law Office of Marshall Watson.

© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in assignment of mortgage, bogus, chain in title, CONTROL FRAUD, deposition, djsp enterprises, DOCX, erica johnson seck, fannie mae, florida default law group, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, GMAC, injunction, investigation, jeffrey stephan, Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A., law offices of Marshall C. Watson pa, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, Moratorium, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., notary fraud, note, robo signers, servicers, shapiro & fishman pa, stopforeclosurefraud.com, Supreme Court5 Comments

Hmmm LETS SEE…WHO’s NEXT?…OH YEA LINDA GREEN, ‘BOGUS’ AND LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES

Hmmm LETS SEE…WHO’s NEXT?…OH YEA LINDA GREEN, ‘BOGUS’ AND LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES

The Washington Post just keeps putting more and more out! Now they exposed Linda Green, Lender Processing Services (LPS)…and pending “Criminal Investigations

Amid mountain of paperwork, shortcuts and forgeries mar foreclosure process

By Ariana Eunjung Cha and Brady Dennis

Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 22, 2010; 9:22 PM

The nation’s overburdened foreclosure system is riddled with faked documents, forged signatures and lenders who take shortcuts reviewing borrower’s files, according to court documents and interviews with attorneys, housing advocates and company officials.

Continue reading …WASHINGTON POST

.

LETS NOT FORGET HER MULTIPLE SIGNATURE PERSONALITIES

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Posted in assignment of mortgage, Beth Cottrell, bogus, chain in title, CONTROL FRAUD, corruption, DOCX, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, geithner, investigation, jeffrey stephan, jpmorgan chase, judge arthur schack, Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A., Lender Processing Services Inc., linda green, LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, Moratorium, mortgage, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud, notary fraud, note, robo signers, stopforeclosurefraud.com, Supreme Court7 Comments

NEW YORK TIMES ‘FORECLOSURE FRAUD’ ARTICLE MISSES THE MARK

NEW YORK TIMES ‘FORECLOSURE FRAUD’ ARTICLE MISSES THE MARK

Please don’t get me wrong. I really like Gretchen Morgenson and Geraldine Fabrikant but I am somewhat disappointed in today’s article High-Speed Courts Try to Rush Through Foreclosures, in which they really missed some important “key components”.

A few weeks ago our friend at Chink in the Armor said it best in his post Gretchen Swoops for the Kill, and Feints … Twice. He states “Gretchen Moregenson of the New York Times is circling the MERS story. Every once in a while she will seem to make a pass at it but at the last moment she diverts to something else, plucking a nice little morsel but leaving the main dish of MERS behind. She refrains, like everyone else, from coming in for the kill. I know for a fact she knows – from two different sources – but I don’t know why she holds her powder.”

He continues… “She had two stories this past week just like that.”

Again, don’t get me wrong, but there are other players just as important as, if not more so, than the Foreclosure Mills, such as MERS, Lender Processing Services, mortgage-backed security trusts, Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae (or GSEs??).

In today’s NYT’s article Gretchen and Geraldine did, however, manage to get in touch with David J. Stern. Of course, to no one’s surprise he “attributed any backdating to sloppiness on the part of paralegals“.

I am sure that statement will not sit well with any paralegals working there who are working hard, doing exactly what their supervisors are telling them to do.

I must say the most important statement from this article comes from the Florida Attorney General,… “Thousands of final judgments of foreclosure against Florida homeowners may have been the result of the allegedly improper actions of these law firms,” said Mr. McCollum in an interview. “We’ve had so many complaints that I am confident there is a great deal of fraud here.

My suggestion to any journalist that fine combs this site is to please do your research and, then, write a mind blowing article that will clear the smoke from the mirrors.

Gretchen, when will you finally swoop in for the kill?

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Posted in chain in title, djsp enterprises, fannie mae, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forgery, investigation, Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A., LPS, MERS, MERSCORP, mistake, mortgage, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud, Notary, notary fraud, note, servicers, stock, Wall Street1 Comment

WHISTLE BLOWER | Report On Fraudulent & Forged Assignments Of Mortgages & Deeds In U.S. Foreclosures

WHISTLE BLOWER | Report On Fraudulent & Forged Assignments Of Mortgages & Deeds In U.S. Foreclosures

Pew family trusts which I am a beneficiary and/or remainderman have maintained
investments in various banks, mutual funds, and other entities that maintain
interests in various shares, mortgage backed securities and/or debt issuances and I
have been a shareholder in many mortgage companies including Fannie Mae,
Bear Stearns, JPMorganChase, Washington Mutual, MGIC, Ocwen and Radian,
many of which are members, owners and shareholders in Mortgage Electronic
Registration Systems, Inc. [MERS].

© 2010 Nye Lavalle, Pew Mortgage Institute
•10675 Pebble Cove Lane • Boca Raton, FL 33498
561/860-7632 • mortgagefrauds@aol.com

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Posted in bear stearns, bogus, chain in title, concealment, conflict of interest, conspiracy, CONTROL FRAUD, corruption, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, forensic document examiner, forensic mortgage investigation audit, forgery, insider, investigation, Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A., Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, Max Gardner, MERS, MERSCORP, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud, neil garfield, notary fraud, note, OCC, R.K. Arnold, racketeering, RICO, robo signers, shapiro & fishman pa, STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUD, stopforeclosurefraud.com, trade secrets, Trusts, Violations, Wall Street0 Comments

Them Be Fightin’ Words: The Fight Over Foreclosure Fees

Them Be Fightin’ Words: The Fight Over Foreclosure Fees

by PAUL JACKSON

Monday, August 30th, 2010, 2:56 pm

For the law firms that manage and process foreclosures on behalf of investors and banking institutions, what’s a fair legal fee? What’s a fair filing fee? Should fees to outsourcers be prohibited? And just how much money should it really cost to process a foreclosure?

As I write this, the answer to these and other questions are being fought out in the trenches, in an out-of-sight but increasingly heated battle involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the law firms that specialize in creditor’s rights, default industry service providers, and various private equity interests.

It’s a complex fight that many say will ultimately shape the way U.S. mortgages are serviced over the course of the next decade — and perhaps beyond. It’s also a debate that promises to spill over into how loans are originated and priced.

“No aspect of the U.S. mortgage business will go untouched by the outcome of this current debate,” said one attorney I spoke with, on condition of anonymity. “This is the single most important issue facing mortgage markets today, and will even determine how securities are structured in the future.”

How foreclosures are managed

Typically, a foreclosure involves legal and court filing fees — it is, after all, a legal process involving the forced transfer of a property from a non-paying borrower to secured lender. But the foreclosure process also typically involves a host of other associated fees, including necessary title searches, potential property insurance, homeowner’s association dues, property maintenance and repair, and much more.

Many of these fees are ultimately tacked onto the “past due” amounts tied to a delinquent borrower — and done so legally. Much like when a credit card becomes past due and the interest rate kicks into high oblivion, consumers looking to catch up on their delinquent mortgage payments must also make up the difference in additional fees in order to successfully do so.

Legal fees in the foreclosure business, however, aren’t what you might think. Instead of billing hourly for most work, as most attorneys in other fields would do, attorneys that specialize in processing foreclosures are paid on a flat-fee basis, using pre-determined fee schedules.

Thanks to the market-making power of the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — both of whom publish allowable fee schedules for every imaginable legal filing and process in the foreclosure repertoire — the entire foreclosure process has been reduced to a set of flat fees.

And not even negotiated fees, at that. For firms that operate in the field of foreclosure management, the GSE allowable fees amount to a take-it-or-leave-it menu of prices.

“For us, it doesn’t matter who the client is, even if it isn’t Fannie or Freddie,” said one attorney I spoke with, under condition of anonymity. “We know we’re only going to be able to claim whatever that flat fee schedule they set says we can claim, since other investors tend to employ whatever the GSE fee caps are.”

Fannie and Freddie as housing HMOs? In the foreclosure business, that’s pretty much what it amounts to.

But beyond determining the legal fee schedule for much of the multi-billion dollar default services market, the GSEs also largely determine who gets their own foreclosure work. Both Fannie and Freddie maintain networks of law firms called “designated counsel” or “approved counsel” in key states marked with significant foreclosure volume — and they either strongly suggest or require that any servicers managing a Fannie or Freddie loan in foreclosure refer any needed legal work to their approved legal counsel.

Each state will have numerous designated counsel — sometimes as many as five law firms — but in practice, attorneys say, two to three firms end up with the lion’s share of each state’s foreclosure work. In states hit hard by the housing downturn and foreclosure surge, like Florida, the amount of work can be substantial.

“The GSEs can force a servicer to use their designated counsel, especially if timeline performance in foreclosure management is out of some set boundary,” said one servicing executive at a large bank, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s usually easiest to simply use their counsel on their loans, even if we don’t see that firm as best-in-class.”

With the vast majority of the mortgage market now running through the GSEs, and much of what’s left of the private market following the guidelines Fannie and Freddie establish, it should come as no surprise to find that a few law firms in each state end up with the majority of the foreclosure work, sources say.

The rise of the ‘foreclosure mills’

Being designated as approved counsel by Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac does carry risk. Just ask Florida’s David Stern, who has seen his burgeoning operation pejoratively branded a ‘foreclosure mill’ by consumer groups, dragged through the press for both alleged and real consumer misdeeds, and facing numerous investor lawsuits surrounding the operation of DJSP Enterprises, Inc. (DJSP: 3.22 -1.23%) — the publicly-traded processing company tied to the law firm.

While Stern’s operation may win the award for ‘most susceptible to negative publicity,’ how the law firm operates is far from unique in the foreclosure industry.

Continue reading…Housing Wire

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Posted in conflict of interest, CONTROL FRAUD, djsp enterprises, fannie mae, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, foreclosures, Freddie Mac, Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A., lawsuit, Lender Processing Services Inc., LPS, mortgage1 Comment

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