Posted on 10/12/2010 8:51:11 PM PDT by Chunga85
NEW YORK (AP) -- In an effort to rush through thousands of home foreclosures since 2007, financial institutions and their mortgage servicing departments hired hair stylists, Walmart floor workers and people who had worked on assembly lines and installed them in "foreclosure expert" jobs with no formal training, a Florida lawyer says.
In depositions released Tuesday, many of those workers testified that they barely knew what a mortgage was. Some couldn't define the word "affidavit." Others didn't know what a complaint was, or even what was meant by personal property. Most troubling, several said they knew they were lying when they signed the foreclosure affidavits and that they agreed with the defense lawyers' accusations about document fraud.
"The mortgage servicers hired people who would never question authority," said Peter Ticktin, a Deerfield Beach, Fla., lawyer who is defending 3,000 homeowners in foreclosure cases. As part of his work, Ticktin gathered 150 depositions from bank employees who say they signed foreclosure affidavits without reviewing the documents or ever laying eyes on them -- earning them the name "robo-signers."
Ticktin said he would make the testimony available to state and federal agencies that are investigating financial institutions for allegations of possible mortgage fraud. This comes on the eve of an expected announcement Wednesday from 40 state attorneys general that they will launch a collective probe into the mortgage industry.
"This was an industrywide scheme designed to defraud homeowners," Ticktin said.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
“I can’t find any words to describe this....”
I can but they aren’t allowed on FR.
Then they should be co-defendants at the trial of the banks/bankers who instituted the fraud. They knowingly and willfully committed fraud. They share in the guilt.
It’s only a technicality! ;-)
This just gets better and better.
Fake appraisals valuing a shack in Compton at $300K .
Fake documentation accepted without question to generate loans which were designed to only fail after Fannie or Freddie had bought them and 90 days had passed
Now, fake affidavits and fake notaries ...
Brace yourselves for tomorrow!
ping
Some are saying this is all just the tip of the iceberg. That this has the potential to cause the collapse of up to 3 major banks and could lead to domino effect in the market that could destroy the currency.
Of course Im not an economist so I dont know if that is accurate or just a Chicken Little story. But one thing is for sure, this going to cause at least another crash in the real estate market. Right now about 25% of mortgages are underwater. By the time this thing is over with, that number will be MUCH higher.
Things are about to get really ugly, I wouldn't be surprised to see a “bank holiday” sometime next year.
I can. Massive and Systematic F R A U D.
Everyone involved must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law...inclusive of those who participated at any level....from those who lied about their income on the application, to the Broker who fudged the numbers or changed the docs post-facto, to those who developed the CDOs and certified they had the original paper...even to the fund and pension manager sho didn't do their due diligence.
Put all the bastards in a Joe Arpaio prison camp for 20 years...at least.
Hang the ring leaders.
Either they were paying their mortgage or not.
If they were not, they deserve to be foreclosed on.
If there were some situations where people were current and so forth, then THOSE people have a case.
“I can’t find any words to describe this.... “
Did you hear the one about the community organizer who got a job as President of the United States?
And this news is probably going to prompt a lot of people to decide there's no reason any longer to pay their mortgage. You can now live in your house indefinitely for free. Hard to fathom all the ripple effects.
With the glut of homes on the market why would banks want to foreclose on people who were paying their mortgage?
People behind that need to be foreclosed on should be and they should not get the house for free. But the foreclosure should NOT be based on forged documents and perjured statements. Forged documents and perjury are not part of our legal system and I do not want it to be no matter what. To the many right here on FR who would except the use of forged documents and perjuryed statements if it would keep a ‘dead beat’ from recieving a free house I ask; Once we accept such behavior what is to prevent them from using the same to defraud honest home owners?
It is the preserving of the rule of law which should come before worrying about if a ‘dead beat’ might get a free house or not.
Face it the ‘dead beat’ wouldn’t be getting the chance at a free house IF THE BANK HAD JUST FOLLOWED THE LAW! The ‘dead beat’ didn’t set the bank up to defraud them the bank set itself up to be defrauded.
My last “real” job was a full-time, three days a week (Fri., Sat., Sun./12 hrs a day) North of Ft Worth, overseeing workers in a cell phone refurbishing factory. If 10% of them were actually legal, I’ll eat my hat.
HOW ‘BOUT THAT HOPE AND CHANGE?!
Do they have a loan?
Is the loan being paid?
How long is the delinquency?
When does is the time the foreclosure automatically proceed?
It's not rocket science.
I used to work in a bank as a younger man.
All you are doing is verifying through paper or electronics the status.
Now if so called plaintiffs in this matter can show where they have been paying on time and not just squatting, then I wish them luck, the rest are being crooks.
You can't like the teaser rates, raising home prices and then say you can't lose if all goes south. RE is a kind of crap shoot and there has been an up and down every decade since I've been alive.
I heard the ONLY thing giving this a breath for a while is Democrats are hoping to use this to help them with upcoming elections.
Long term, no courts can allow people to not pay their bill and still own the home, it would collapse the economy all by itself on this one issue.
The rule of law says that only the owner of the note/lien can foreclose. The law requires that you provide documented proof that you owner the note/lien. Forged documents and perjury are not part of our legal system and I do not want it to be no matter what. I ask you; once we accept such behavior what is to prevent someone from using the same to defraud honest home owners?
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