Are Banks trying to "Cover Up" Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud?
In two letters recently released by, Attorney General Richard Cordray criticized a number of banks and loan-servicing companies, including Wells Fargo & Co.; Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage; Bank of America Corp.; and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Mr. Cordray accused the banks of trying to paper over fraud committed in foreclosures with temporary fixes that don't address underlying problems in the banks' practices.
In light of the fiasco an option for banks would be to allow borrowers to modify loans and make settlements. This would be a win-win for everyone instead of forging ahead with paperwork that could be bogus or flawed. This is a huge issue for the courts in light of a 50-state probe, which includes top law-enforcement officers from all 50 states in response to allegations of robo-signing and massive errors.
It is a but suspect for Bank of America to remain silent on the subject, given that that in 2008 they agreed to an $8.4 billion loan modification program after its Countrywide Financial unit was probed for predatory lending practices. Thus took place only two years ago.
Wells Fargo on the other hand is resubmitting submitting affidavits for 55,000 pending foreclosures,since some of the paperwork might be flawed. One Wells Fargo employee admitted to signing hundreds of foreclosure documents a day without checking for accuracy. When questioned in a Florida deposition, she exclaimed that it was not part of her job description to check for accuracy. This should make homeowners and the bank feel really confident about the validity of the documents signed.
Click on the following link to read more from the WSJ on Big Banks Told Not to 'Fix' a Fraud .
Brian F. LaBovick, Esq.
Esther Uria LaBovick, Esq.
Mark R. Hanson, Esq.
Joseph R. Fields Jr., Esq.
Marcie Dodson, J.D.