More than a year after the robo-signing scandal broke in October 2010, two title officers employed by Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) have been indicted by a Nevada grand jury on 606 counts alleging various robo-signing and forgery actions on tens of thousands of documents between 2005 and 2008.
Gary Trafford and Gerri Sheppard are the two officers in question. The pair is charged with allegedly directing employees under their supervision to forge their names on foreclosure documents and then notarize those forgeries.
Trafford was charged with 102 counts of notarization of signature of person not in presence of public, 102 counts of offering false instruments for filing or recording and 102 counts of false certification on certain instruments. Sheppard was charged with 100 counts of notarization of signature of person not in presence of public, 100 counts of offering false instruments for filing or recording and 100 counts of false certification on certain documents.
The indictment alleges that both defendants directed the fraudulent notarization and filing of documents which were used to initiate foreclosure on local homeowners. The state alleges that these documents, referred to as notices of default, or “NODs,” were prepared locally. The state alleges that the defendants directed employees under their supervision, to forge their names on foreclosure documents, then notarize the signatures they just forged, thereby fraudulently attesting that the defendants actually signed the documents, which was untrue and in violation of state law. The defendants then allegedly directed the employees under their supervision to file the fraudulent documents with the Clark County Recorder’s office, to be used to start foreclosures on homes throughout the county.
In a statement, LPS noted that since 2010, the company conducted reviews of the processes used in the signing and notarization of documents used in foreclosure proceedings and has expressed a willingness to fully cooperate with the investigation. The company also stated that earlier in the month, the Nevada Attorney General’s office confirmed that LPS was not a target of this inquiry.
“Based on the company’s reviews, LPS acknowledges the signing procedures on some of these documents were flawed; however, the company also believes these documents were properly authorized and their recording did not result in a wrongful foreclosure,” the company stated.
“I am deeply committed to ensuring that LPS meets rigorous standards of professional conduct and operating excellence,” said Hugh Harris, president and chief executive officer of LPS. “I have full confidence in the ability of our leadership team and more than 8,000 dedicated employees to deliver on that commitment.”
LPS is a provider of integrated technology and services to the mortgage and real estate industries. Approximately 50 percent of all U.S. mortgages by volume are serviced using LPS’ Mortgage Servicing Package. These indictments thus far have stopped with these two officers, but it will be interesting to see if anything else emerges from this first real court action stemming from last year’s controversy.