Dear Readers,
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Masto’s sued against Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) for its alleged involvement in illegal robo-signing activities, as well as LPS’ move to dismiss the case, began a shockwave of activity addressing robo-signing and other foreclosure-related issues.
Most important, perhaps was the announcement that the nation’s largest servicers reached a $25 billion settlement with 49 state attorneys general.
The announcements did not stop there, however. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit against Nationwide Title Clearing Inc. (NTC) for allegedly filing faulty documents with Illinois county recorders. NTCis a Florida-based company that prepares documents for mortgage servicers to use against borrowers who are in default, foreclosure or bankruptcy.
“The practices that NTC used were a key contributor to the mortgage crisis by undermining the integrity and accuracy of the mortgage servicing and foreclosure process,” Madigan said.
Then Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced that a Boone County grand jury has handed down 136-count indictments against DOCX LLC and its founder and former president, Lorraine Brown, for forgery and making a false declaration related to mortgage documents processed by DOCX. Koster is the third attorney general to bring a case against the actions of DOCX, following the attorneys general in Nevada and Illinois.
In the midst of these announcements was another by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who filed a lawsuit against several of the nation’s largest banks charging that the creation and use of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. (MERS) has resulted in a wide range of deceptive and fraudulent foreclosure filings in New York state and federal courts, harming homeowners and undermining the integrity of the judicial foreclosure process. The lawsuit asserts that employees and agents of Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, acting as MERS certifying officers, have repeatedly submitted court documents containing false and misleading information that made it appear that the foreclosing party had the authority to bring a case when in fact it may not have. The lawsuit names JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., Bank of America N.A., Wells Fargo Bank N.A., as well as Virginia-based MERSCORP Inc. and its subsidiary MERS.
As you can see from our current cover story, these are not the only actions being taken to address foreclosure issues. State legislatures are also attempting to fix the problems they see. While not directly impacting the title industry, these issues will affect how industry members do business across the country as the marketability of title on REO properties is questioned. We’ll keep you u to date as these issues continue to evolve.
Until next time, stay legal.
Andrea Golby, editor
The Legal Description
[email protected]