Monthly Archives: November 2010

According to Bloomber.com, on March 18, 2010, Citigroup Inc., which has proceeded with foreclosures as some rivals stopped to recheck documents, informed Congress that it may need to refile affidavits in cases that began before an overhaul of its procedures. The lender is reviewing 10,000 affidavits that were executed before a reorganization of foreclosure operations was completed in February, Harold Lewis, a managing director with the CitiMortgage lending unit said in written testimony for a congressional hearing today. About 4,000 affidavits may not have been signed before a notary and may be resubmitted, he said. Citigroup has defended its procedures […]

On November 17, 2010, The Washington Post reported that state attorneys general and the country’s biggest lenders are negotiating to create a nationwide fund to compensate borrowers who can prove they lost their home in an improper foreclosure, state and industry officials said. The fund would present a solution for both sides, helping banks avoid lengthy and costly court challenges from homeowners and aiding state investigators in their efforts to seek relief for homeowners who were wronged, the officials said. Discussions are continuing over the size of the fund, who would administer it and what kind of proof homeowners would […]

The number of Long Island homes foreclosed last month jumped 437 percent over a year ago and doubled compared to September, a sign that lenders may be moving more aggressively to settle many older foreclosure cases, RealtyTrac said. Nationwide in October, lenders took 21 percent more homes than a year ago but 9 percent fewer than in September, the report said. RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist warned against taking the local monthly number too seriously, pointing out that such data often contain cases from past months due to lags in local recording of repossessions. “When you go to the local levels, […]

Bryan Bly is a pen-wielding “robo- signer” at Nationwide Title Clearing Inc., inking his name on an average 5,000 mortgage documents a day for companies such as Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Those are just the ones that cross his desk. Nationwide Title employs a computer system that automatically inserts a copy of Bly’s signature on thousands of digital files that he never sees. The system even affixes an electronic notary seal. “The problem with the way these documents are created isn’t because a computer is used,” said Gloria Einstein, a legal aid attorney in Green Cove Springs, […]

In more than two hours of video footage recently uploaded to YouTube, three alleged “robo signers” describe how they approved thousands of mortgage documents a day without reading them. Robo-signing is the latest ugly turn in the ongoing mortgage mess. Banks and loan servicers appear to have illegally processed countless documents in the rush to foreclose. The scandal has spawned a host a host of lawsuits, including a Federal racketeering lawsuit brought against Bank of America and a wave of investigations by 50 state attorneys general. The three employees of Nationwide Title Clearing — notary Crystal Moore, “signer in charge” […]