The investigation conducted by the OCC and the Fed included a review of just 100 foreclosure files.
Housing Wire-
When mortgage servicers signed consent orders with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve, these companies were required to hire outside firms to conduct “look back” evaluations of questionable foreclosure practices.
But these reviews will not be made public, according to an OCC spokesman.
But Deutsche Bank wasn’t just going after her. The bank was also attempting to sue her son, Mark Cullen, who is currently pursuing a graduate degree in poetry at the New School in New York. Cullen hasn’t lived in Szymoniak’s house for seven years and is not a party to any aspect of her mortgage — he has no interest in either the property or the loan, and never has had any such interest, according to Szymoniak.
[…]
And other Florida foreclosure experts say it’s difficult to interpret Deutsche Bank’s move as anything other than retaliation for Szymoniak’s media presence. If it is not, in fact, retaliation, they argue, then Deutsche Bank’s lawyers have demonstrated rank incompetence.
The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is warning that flaws may have “infected millions of foreclosures” and questioned whether other regulators’ inquiries into problems at the nation’s mortgage-servicing companies have been thorough enough.
“We do not yet really know the full extent of the problem,” FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said Thursday in written remarks submitted to a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee. “Flawed mortgage-banking processes have potentially infected millions of foreclosures, and the damages to be assessed against these operations could be significant and take years to materialize.”
The signatures of the same names on more than 4,500 documents handled by Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) for real estate valued at $624.8 million varied enough to raise doubts about their validity, Jeff Thigpen, register of deeds in Guilford County, North Carolina, told reporters today in Greensboro.
The Bristol County Board of Commisioners voted unanimously Tuesday to send a letter to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley expressing interest in pursuing litigation against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc, commonly known as MERS, for skirting public recording laws.
MERS is a private network that is partly owned by Bank of America. The commissioners did not specify how much they are looking to recover. “It’d be really rough numbers,” said Commissioner John Mitchell. “We’d have to find out.”
JOHN L. O’BRIEN, JR.
Register of Deeds Phone: 978-542-1704 Fax: 978-542-1706
website: www.salemdeeds.com
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds
Shetland Park 45 Congress Street Suite 4100
Salem, Massachusetts 01970
NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Salem, MA May 3rd, 2011
Contact: Kevin Harvey, 1st Assistant Register 978-542-1724
kevin.harvey@sec.state.ma.us
The 1960’s television show “To Tell the Truth”, where imposters pretend to be the central character, is playing out today at the Essex Southern District Registry of Deeds and Register John O’Brien is not happy about it. After the 60 Minutes’ expose on Mortgage Fraud was aired and showed that leading mortgage services have been using forged documents to foreclose on homeowners, Register John O’Brien reviewed mortgage discharges recorded in his Registry. To view the 60 Minutes Article and a link to the video, go to http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/01/60minutes/main20049646.shtml
What he found astonished him. In 2010 alone, 286 Bank of America’s mortgage discharges were recorded with what he calls “questionable and possibly fraudulent signatures of the notorious Linda Green.” O’Brien said that he has found at least four variations of Green’s signature recorded in his Registry.
Green, who was spotlighted in the 60 Minutes Episode, had her name signed by various individuals on thousands of documents recorded at Registries of Deeds throughout the state of Massachusetts and across the nation. In Register O’Brien’s opinion, these documents have corrupted Essex County homeowner’s chains of title. “I have a responsibility to ensure that the documents recorded in my Registry meet the statutory requirements of recording. If, however, I am presented with evidence that clearly shows that fraud may have been committed then it is my responsibility as the keeper of records to turn these documents over to the appropriate authorities for their review and action.”
O’Brien has today forwarded certified copies of these discharges to United States Attorney, Carmen Ortez, Attorney General, Martha Coakley, and Essex County District Attorney, Jonathan Blodgett. “If what I suspect has happened, then the people who have committed this fraud should be held accountable for their actions” commented O’Brien. O’Brien fears that this fraudulent behavior is only the tip of the iceberg and feels strongly that lenders and mortgage servicers should be held accountable for their actions. Actions which he originally only thought involved a scheme to circumvent the land recordation system by creating a private, for profit cyber-registry to benefit the big bank’s pocketbooks. Now it seems that MERS, and its member banks may have added fraud to their repertoire of services that they offer.
Register O’Brien questions if a good portion of this foreclosure mess could have been avoided in the first place, if the big banks did what they were supposed to do and recorded assignments like other lenders do. Register O’Brien believes: 1) Homeowners deserve to know who owns their mortgages; 2) Assignments should be recorded in the appropriate registry of deeds, each and every time a mortgage is sold, to provided transparency and public disclosure of ownership; and 3) Any and all documents should be signed by an authorized authority at the entity that actually owns and holds the note secured by the mortgage.
Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen Uncovers Possible Fraud by Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and MERS
Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen will hold a press conference in the Blue Room in the Old Guilford County Courthouse on Wednesday, May 6th at 10 am to reveal the findings of an internal investigation initiated after a 60 Minutes segment called “The Mortgage Paperwork Mess” that followed alleged fraud committed the company Doc X, owned by Lender Proccessing Services (LPS) and contracted with major mortgage and banking institutions including Wells Fargo, Bank of America and the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) Inc.
Register of Deeds Thigpen will be joined by Lynn Szymoniak, an attorney interviewed during the segment by 60 Minutes Scott Pelley. The findings of this internal investigation will be revealed and forwarded to the appropriate federal and state agencies including the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), and Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The findings will be submitted to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, heading the 50 State Attorney General Investigations into Foreclosure Fraud, and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, current President of the National Association of Attorneys General for their consideration and the financial services institutions.
Register of Deeds Thigpen will also announce actions taken involving Lenders and Mortgage companies to address the findings of this investigation.
###
*April 4, 2011 60 Minutes segment on Mortgage Mess:
Several months ago, the major banks sounded the all clear signal regarding robo-signing in non-judicial foreclosure states, namely Michigan and Massachusetts. It appears those claims of non-exist robo-signing were either greatly exaggerated or were overly optimistic.
MFI-Miami has uncovered evidence of forged documents drafted and signed by attorneys and employees at Orlans Associates at their corporate offices in Troy, Michigan. These fraudulent documents will impact tens of thousands of foreclosures done by Ally Financial, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan-Chase, Fannie Mae and others in Michigan and Massachusetts over the past five years and makes the investigation being done by Ingham County Register of Deeds, Curtis Hertel, Jr. and Oakland County Clerk Bill Bullard into the robo-signing of Linda Green at the now defunct DocX look like a kindergarten production of the movie, The Firm.
Sheriff Dart goes to a home to serve eviction papers only to witness the house is gone and the foundation is overgrown with bushes because the house has been missing for so many years. This is what got him curious as to the accuracy of foreclosures.
According to AP, the court on Monday issued a high profile-case order in the matter of Pino v. Bank of New York Mellon. One of the issues in the case is whether there was a fraud on the trial court.
And we all now the original work behind this was none other than Law Offices of David J. Stern, who has recently shut down as of March 31, 2011.
On February 2, 2011 the Florida 4th DCA said
We conclude that this is a question of great public importance, as many, many mortgage foreclosures appear tainted with suspect documents. The defendant has requested a denial of the equitable right to foreclose the mortgage at all. If this is an available remedy as a sanction after a voluntary dismissal, it may dramatically affect the mortgage foreclosure crisis in this State. Accordingly we certify the following question to the Florida Supreme Court as of great public importance
After the 60 Minutes Segment on Foreclosure Fraud on April 3, 2011, I was contacted by over 2,000 individuals, seeking help or wanting to help.
FOR ALL THOSE WHO WANT TO HELP RESEARCH THE DOCX FORGERY SCHEME:
1. Search the official records of your county and find all the Mortgage Assignments filed by Docx in 2009. Search by bank: Deutsche Bank, Bank of NY Mellon, U.S. Bank, HSBC, Wells Fargo, etc.
These are very recognizable. On each form, in the left hand corner, there is a statement that the Assignment was prepared by Docx in Alpharetta, GA.
For examples, click on the word PLEADINGS on the Home Page of www.frauddigest.com (my online magazine) – then click on the second entry – 10 Versions of Linda Green signatures on mortgage documents.
Print each example you find in your county Official Records. Identify and circle the name of the borrorwer/homeowner on each record.
2. Go Back to the Official Records. Search the name of each homeowner on the Docx Assignments for Lis Pendens.
Print the Lis Pendens that corresponds to the Assignment and staple these together.
Note that there will not be a Lis Pendens for every Assignment – many homeowners will have already handed over the keys or agreed to a short sale to avoid litigation.
3. Sort by Law Firm Preparing the Lis Pendens.
In Florida, for example, the firms using these Assignments will include Law Offices of David Stern, Law Offices of Marshall Watson, Shapiro & Fishman, Florida Default Law Group, Law Offices of Daniel Consuegra, Akerman & Senterfitt, Gladstone Law Group and many others.
These are the firms that continued to use the forged documents, never “noticing” that:
(1) the signatures varied so significantly that forgeries were likely;
(2) the same individuals used so many different job titles that the validity was unlikely;
(3) the dates of the Assignments indicated a fraudulent document because the Assignments came after the Lis Pendens.
4. Compile a report of these findings – LAW FIRMS USING FORGED AND FABRICATED DOCUMENTS TO FORECLOSE.
State plainly which law firms used these documents and attach the documents supporting your conclusions.
5. Send your reports to the following:
(1) your local State Attorney;
(2) the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Association in your state;
(3) the FBI/attention: Mortgage Fraud Taskforce;
(4) the U.S. Attorney for your district;
(5) the Attorney General for your state;
(6) your country recorder;
(7) your area newspaper/television investigative reporter.
6. You may also sort by the BANK that used these fraudulent documents to take homes, and include that information in your reports.
Please send a .pdf file of your letter (without attachments) to szymoniak@mac.com.
If you are very ambitious, you may also add the face value of all of the Docx Assignments you locate so that you can report the total amount that banks took or tried to take using these forged and fabricated documents in 2009.
WHEN WE ALL COMPLETE THIS PROJECT, WE WILL MOVE ON TO FORGED AND FABRICATED ASSIGNMENTS PREPARED BY LAW FIRMS (such as David Stern in Florida and Baum in NY) AND OTHER SERVICERS.
The Ohio Supreme Court has dismissed a complaint against three Franklin County judges who are requiring lawyers to verify the authenticity of the documents they file in home foreclosures.
Six lawyers challenged the action in December, asking the Supreme Court to prohibit the judges from ordering them to sign “certifications” on behalf of their clients.
LOL– These are not the ORIGINAL Assignments, They’re locked up in a vault … (sure they are)
From the Letter:
“In addition to transferring the mortgage through an unrecorded assignment at the time the assignee securitization trust obtains the loan, it has been industry practice for the loan servicer to have an assignment of mortgage executed and recorded in the name of the trustee for the securitization trust typically shortly before a foreclosure action is commenced. This latter assignment would be recorded to put record title into the name of the owner or holder of the loan, to eliminate any confusion about the assignee being the appropriate plaintiff to commence the foreclosure action. However, this assignment would not act to transfer ownership or holder status to that assignee, which occurred earlier, as explained above.
Although there exists a signed and notarized unrecorded assignment of mortgage in favor of the securitization trustee in a loan file maintained under contract by a custodian retained by the trust, in most cases it is very burdensome and costly to obtain that old, original assignment and more troublesome to record it, which is a document in favor of blank (that is, the name of the assignee is not filled in) and is dated, signed, and notarized years ago; it is generally less burdensome, more efficient, and less expensive to have foreclosure counsel review the current state of title and counsel or a document preparer prepare, sign, notarize, and record a currently prepared assignment, pursuant to appropriate corporate authority.”
I ask the following very simple question. Did this activity violate the RICO Act? In what manner might the the RICO Act have been violated? Try the following on for size:
1. Mail and wire fraud.
2. Extortionate credit transactions.
3. Obstruction of justice.
4. Interference of commerce.
5. Laundering of monetary instruments.
6. Monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activities.
7. Relating to trafficking in goods and services bearing counterfeit marks.
8. Fraud in the sale of securities.
As it turns out, Wall Street cut corners when it bundled homeowners’ mortgages into securities that were traded from investor to investor. Now that banks are foreclosing on people, they’re finding that the legal documents behind many mortgages are missing. So, what do the banks do? As Pelley explains in this video, some companies appear to be resorting to forgery and phony paperwork in what looks like a nationwide epidemic.
Even if you’re not at risk of foreclosure, there could be legal ramifications for a homeowner if the chain of title has been lost. Watch the “60 Minutes” report and listen to Pelley’s discussion with “60 Minutes Overtime” editor Ann Silvio about the findings of his reporting team.
If there was a question about whether we’re headed for a second housing shock, that was settled last week with news that home prices have fallen a sixth consecutive month. Values are nearly back to levels of the Great Recession. One thing weighing on the economy is the huge number of foreclosed houses.
Many are stuck on the market for a reason you wouldn’t expect: banks can’t find the ownership documents.
Angry and exasperated by faulty foreclosure documents, judges throughout Florida are hitting back by increasingly dismissing cases and boldly accusing lawyers of “fraud upon the court.”
A Palm Beach Post review of cases in state and appellate courts found judges are routinely dismissing cases for questionable paperwork. Although in most cases the bank is allowed to refile the case with the appropriate documents, in a growing number of cases judges are awarding homeowners their homes free and clear after finding fraud upon the court.
Still, critics say judges are not doing enough.
“The judges are the gatekeepers to jurisprudence, to the Florida Constitution, to access to the courts and to due process,” said attorney Chip Parker, a Jacksonville foreclosure defense attorney who was recently investigated by the Florida Bar for his critical comments about so-called “rocket dockets” during an interview with CNN. “It’s discouraging when it appears as if there is an exception being made for foreclosure cases.”
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