Company Faces Forgery Charges in Mo. Foreclosures [RoboSigning]

The New York Times ^ | 06 Feb 2012 | GRETCHEN MORGENSON

[Theoria]

One of the largest companies that provided home foreclosure services to lenders across the nation, DocX, has been indicted on forgery charges by a Missouri grand jury — one of the few criminal actions to follow reports of widespread improprieties against homeowners.

A grand jury in Boone County, Mo., handed up an indictment Friday accusing DocX of 136 counts of forgery in the preparation of documents used to evict financially strained borrowers from their homes. Lorraine O. Brown, the company’s founder and former president, was indicted on the same charges.

Employees of DocX, a unit of Lender Processing Services of Jacksonville, Fla., executed and notarized millions of mortgage documents for big banks and loan servicers over the years. Lender Processing closed the company in April 2010, after evidence emerged of apparent forgeries in these documents, a practice now called robo-signing.

Chris Koster, the Missouri attorney general, will prosecute the case. “The grand jury indictment alleges that mass-produced fraudulent signatures on notarized real estate documents constitutes forgery,” Mr. Koster said in a statement. “Today’s indictment reflects our firm conviction that when you sign your name to a legal document, it matters.”

Mr. Koster said his office’s investigation was continuing. This suggests he may hope to persuade Ms. Brown to cooperate in his investigation of the parent company. If convicted, Ms. Brown could face up to seven years in prison for each forgery count. DocX could be fined up to $10,000 for each forgery conviction.

Scott Rosenblum, a lawyer at Rosenblum, Schwartz, Rogers & Glass who represents DocX said: “We have not had an opportunity to review the indictment at this point. The company intends to enter a plea of not guilty.”

[TheOldLady]

Boop His Cute Little Tootsies!

Pretty Baby Looks Innocent Now
But He'll Be Huge and Fiery Soon
Donate!

Sponsors will contribute $10
For each new monthly sign-up

[Bob Buchholz]

Obama Signs Last-Minute Patriot Act Extension Minutes before the midnight deadline Thursday, President Obama approved a four-year extension of the government’s Patriot Act powers to search records and conduct roving wiretaps in pursuit of terrorists.

“I think it is an important tool for us to continue dealing with an ongoing terrorist threat,” the president said from the G-8 Summit in France.

The White House said Obama had signed the bill from Europe using an autopen machine that holds a pen and signs his actual signature. It is only used with proper authorization of the president. The action comes a month after intelligence and military forces hunted down Usama bin Laden.

OK for me, not for thee!