The 2,300 bank owned Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, acts as a trading house for millions of mortgages. Lawyers for homeowners say the system lacks the required paper trail to prove mortgage ownership in foreclosure proceedings.
JPMorgan Chase's CEO, Jamie Dimon, says the bank has stopped using the electronic mortgage tracking system used by major financial institutions in a conference call Wednesday to discuss the bank's quarterly earnings.
JPMorgan Chase and other banks have suspended some foreclosures following allegations of paperwork problems in thousands of cases.
Lawyers have argued in court proceedings that MERS is unable to accurately prove ownership of mortgages.
_______________________
Mortgage Loan Compliance® | The Forensic Loan Audit Company
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Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Mortgage Loan Compliance | Bank of America Freeze Foreclosures in 50 States
Bank of America Corp., the nation's largest bank, is stopping sales of foreclosed homes in all 50 states as it reviews potential flaws in foreclosure documents.
The company had previously said it would only stop such sales in the 23 states where foreclosures must be approved by a judge.
The move comes amid evidence that mortgage company employees or their lawyers signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.
"We will stop foreclosure sales until our assessment has been satisfactorily completed," company spokesman Dan Frahm said in a statement. "Our ongoing assessment shows the basis for our past foreclosure decisions is accurate."
_______________________
Mortgage Loan Compliance® | The Forensic Loan Audit Company
Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, and Protect Your Rights!
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The company had previously said it would only stop such sales in the 23 states where foreclosures must be approved by a judge.
The move comes amid evidence that mortgage company employees or their lawyers signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.
"We will stop foreclosure sales until our assessment has been satisfactorily completed," company spokesman Dan Frahm said in a statement. "Our ongoing assessment shows the basis for our past foreclosure decisions is accurate."
_______________________
Mortgage Loan Compliance® | The Forensic Loan Audit Company
Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, and Protect Your Rights!
Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Mortgage Loan Compliance | Ohio AG Sues Ally Bank (GMAC) Illegal Foreclosures
Ohio's Attorney General, Richard Cordray, is suing Ally Financial Inc. and its GMAC Mortgage division, alleging the company violated state fraud laws in handling foreclosure cases.
Cordray is asking for civil penalties of up to $25,000 for every violation of the state's consumer laws and for the company to pay back any financial losses to the homeowner. He also wants the court to halt any Ally foreclosure or sale of property now pending in Ohio.
The action could be the first in a wave of lawsuits by state regulators over what appear to be widespread problems in documents used by the nation's largest mortgage lenders.
Attorney General Cordray said Wednesday the alleged fraud could involve hundreds of foreclosures in the state. The lawsuit claims the company's employees signed and filed false affidavits to mislead courts. Cordray called the alleged fraud the "tip of an iceberg of industry-wide abuse of the foreclosure process."
Three banks have halted foreclosures in 23 states after evidence surfaced that their employees or outside lawyers signed documents without reading them or filed inaccurate paperwork. State and federal officials have been ramping up pressure on the industry over concerns about potential legal violations.
_______________________
Mortgage Loan Compliance® | The Forensic Loan Audit Company
Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, and Protect Your Rights!
Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com
Cordray is asking for civil penalties of up to $25,000 for every violation of the state's consumer laws and for the company to pay back any financial losses to the homeowner. He also wants the court to halt any Ally foreclosure or sale of property now pending in Ohio.
The action could be the first in a wave of lawsuits by state regulators over what appear to be widespread problems in documents used by the nation's largest mortgage lenders.
Attorney General Cordray said Wednesday the alleged fraud could involve hundreds of foreclosures in the state. The lawsuit claims the company's employees signed and filed false affidavits to mislead courts. Cordray called the alleged fraud the "tip of an iceberg of industry-wide abuse of the foreclosure process."
Three banks have halted foreclosures in 23 states after evidence surfaced that their employees or outside lawyers signed documents without reading them or filed inaccurate paperwork. State and federal officials have been ramping up pressure on the industry over concerns about potential legal violations.
_______________________
Mortgage Loan Compliance® | The Forensic Loan Audit Company
Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, and Protect Your Rights!
Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com
Friday, October 1, 2010
Mortgage Loan Compliance | Illegal Foreclosures – Bank of America
A Bank of America official acknowledged in a legal proceeding in February that she signed up to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them. The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a deposition in a Massachusetts homeowner's bankruptcy case that she signed 7,000 to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month.
"I typically don't read them because of the volume that we sign," Hertzler said.
She also acknowledged identifying herself as a representative of a different bank, Bank of New York Mellon, that she didn't work for. Bank of New York Mellon served as a trustee for the investors holding the homeowner's loan.
Bank of America is now delaying foreclosures in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents.
Bank of America isn't able to estimate how many homeowners' cases will be affected, Dan Frahm, a spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, said Friday.
The move adds the nation's largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.
_______________________
Mortgage Loan Compliance® | The Forensic Loan Audit Company
Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, and Protect Your Rights!
Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com
"I typically don't read them because of the volume that we sign," Hertzler said.
She also acknowledged identifying herself as a representative of a different bank, Bank of New York Mellon, that she didn't work for. Bank of New York Mellon served as a trustee for the investors holding the homeowner's loan.
Bank of America is now delaying foreclosures in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents.
Bank of America isn't able to estimate how many homeowners' cases will be affected, Dan Frahm, a spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, said Friday.
The move adds the nation's largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.
_______________________
Mortgage Loan Compliance® | The Forensic Loan Audit Company
Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, and Protect Your Rights!
Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com
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