Several state courts, and the Cook County Sheriff, recently joined the "robosigner" affidavit fray, announcing new rules and requirements affecting foreclosures. Prominent examples include:
COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced he will not carry out any evictions involving three servicers most affected by the affidavit media blitz, until they can provide complete assurance that the foreclosure was done properly and legally.
Dart also sent notice to attorneys for the affected servicers that he wants them to provide an affidavit affirming any foreclosures they file in Cook County have been properly processed in accordance with Illinois law. Additionally, he is asking those servicers to provide the same affidavits for awaiting eviction orders.
A copy of the press release is available at:
MARYLAND
The Maryland Court of Appeals adopted special rules regarding foreclosure proceedings in Maryland. The Rules changes "govern the courts of this State and all parties and their attorneys in all actions and proceedings, and shall take effect and apply to all actions commenced on or after October 20, 2010, and insofar as practicable to all actions then pending." A copy of the new Rules is available at: http://mdcourts.gov/rules/rodocs/ro166.pdf
In general, the Rules changes allow judges to screen affidavits filed in residential foreclosure cases, and if they have reason to believe that an affidavit may be invalid, enter an order directing the affiant, and where applicable, the notary, to appear before the court and establish that the affidavit is genuine, failing which the foreclosure action may be dismissed.
NEW YORK
Foreclosure attorneys in New York are now required to file affirmations in a specific form, as follows: - For new cases, the affirmation must accompany the Request for Judicial Intervention
- In pending cases, the affirmation must be submitted with either the proposed order of reference or the proposed judgment of foreclosure
- In cases where a foreclosure judgment has been entered but the property has not yet been sold at auction, the affirmation must be submitted to the referee, and a copy filed with the court, no later than five business days before the scheduled auction.
Counsel remain under a continuing obligation to file an amended version of the affirmation if new facts emerge after the initial filing.
A copy of the Afirmation is available at: http://www.nycourts.gov/attorneys/foreclosures/Affirmation-Foreclosure.pdf
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Ralph T. Wutscher
Kahrl Wutscher LLP
The Loop Center Building
105 W. Madison Street, Suite 2100
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Direct: (312) 551-9320
Fax: (866) 581-9302
Mobile: (312) 493-0874
RWutscher@kw-llp.com
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Among many other elected officials joining the media blitz regarding so-called "robosigning" activities, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office sent a demand letter to 30 of the largest mortgage loan servicers, calling for an immediate halt on all foreclosures, all sales of properties previously foreclosed upon and all evictions of persons residing in previously foreclosed upon properties, until companies have completed a review of their processes, including whether employees or agents "robosigned" affidavits and other documents which were recorded in the State of Texas.
The demand letter also requires the servicers to provide the Texas AG with among other things the names of affiants, a list of affected Texas foreclosures, and the remedial measures being taken.
The Texas AG posted a sample of one of the letters on his website:
The demand references the following conduct as suspect or illegal "robosigning" acitivities: (1) signing thousands of documents per month; (2) signing documents without reading them; (3) signing affidavits which falsely claim personal knowledge of facts; (4) signing affidavits which falsely claim the affiant reviewed the attached documents; (5) notarizing documents prior to signing by the signer; (6) notarizing documents when the signer was not present before the notary; and/or (7) filing documents with records attached that did not correctly reflect loan payments, charges and advances.
The Texas AG also requires the servicers to suspend all foreclosures, all sales of properties previously foreclosed upon, and all evictions of persons residing in previously foreclosed upon properties, until the servicers:
1. Identify all employees or agents who "robosigned," as described above, affidavits and other documents which were recorded in the State of Texas;
2. Identify all foreclosures in the State of Texas in connection with which an affidavit or other document with the characteristics listed above was used as part of the foreclosure process;
3. Describe the measures taken by the servicer to ensure that affidavits and other documents are executed in compliance with Texas law;
4. Describe the measures taken by the servicer to comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act in connection with foreclosures;
5. Identify all other loan servicers and/or MERS for whom the above described employees or agents signed affidavits;
6. Provide assurances that all of the servicers foreclosures of properties in the State of Texas which relied upon documents with the characteristics described above will be rectified and the procedures by which they will be rectified;
7. Provide assurances that all future Texas foreclosures by the servicer will be done with legally correct documentation; and
8. Identify all employees or agents who are or who signed as officers of other non-related entities.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Ralph T. Wutscher
Kahrl Wutscher LLP
The Loop Center Building
105 W. Madison Street, Suite 2100
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Direct: (312) 551-9320
Fax: (866) 581-9302
Mobile: (312) 493-0874
RWutscher@kw-llp.com
http://www.kw-llp.com
NOTICE: We do not send unsolicited emails. If you received this email in error, or if you wish to be removed from our update distribution list, please simply reply to this email and state your intention. Thank you.
Our updates are available on the internet, in searchable format, at: http://updates.kw-llp.com
Senator Al Franken of Minnesota sent a letter to the United States Treasury, DOJ, HUD, FRB, OCC and FDIC requesting investigation and prosecution of Ally and and its employees for "any criminal conduct," that the agencies require "proper restitution and compensation" for "illegitimate foreclosure actions," and that the agencies confirm that no FHA or HAMP related loans "were associated with Ally's misconduct."
A copy of Franken's letter is available at:
Specifically, the letter states:
Each of your agencies has an important role to play in addressing this egregious situation and holding all appropriate actors fully accountable. As such, I respectfully request that you collaborate to conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged misconduct. As part of this investigation, it is crucial that Ally and its employees are held fully accountable for any criminal misconduct. Additionally, all homeowners who may have experienced illegitimate foreclosure sales, those who have been forced to defend against illegitimate foreclosure actions, and those who have been harmed must be identified. These individuals must receive proper restitution and compensation, as provided for under the law. It is also critical to confirm that no loans provided through the Federal Housing Administration or in conjunction with the Home Affordable Modification Program were associated with Ally's misconduct.
Unfortunately, concerns have been raised that Ally's practices are not an anomaly in this industry, and that these bad practices are used by numerous other companies as well. Therefore, I request that you report on the actions your agencies are taking (and plan to take) to improve oversight of mortgage servicers overall. In particular, please inform me of steps that you will take to ensure that similar misconduct is not currently occurring within other mortgage service companies and how future improper activity can best be prevented. This should include any measures that may be taken within the Home Affordable Modification Program and by the Federal Housing Administration.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Ralph T. Wutscher
Kahrl Wutscher LLP
The Loop Center Building
105 W. Madison Street, Suite 2100
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Direct: (312) 551-9320
Fax: (866) 581-9302
Mobile: (312) 493-0874
RWutscher@kw-llp.com
http://www.kw-llp.com
NOTICE: We do not send unsolicited emails. If you received this email in error, or if you wish to be removed from our update distribution list, please simply reply to this email and state your intention. Thank you.
Our updates are available on the internet, in searchable format, at: http://updates.kw-llp.com
As many of you have requested, please see the following links for the purported deposition transcripts regarding the GMAC/Ally affidavit news media blitz issue:
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Ralph T. Wutscher
Kahrl Wutscher LLP
The Loop Center Building
105 W. Madison Street, Suite 2100
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Direct: (312) 551-9320
Fax: (866) 581-9302
Mobile: (312) 493-0874
RWutscher@kw-llp.com
http://www.kw-llp.com
NOTICE: We do not send unsolicited emails. If you received this email in error, or if you wish to be removed from our update distribution list, please simply reply to this email and state your intention. Thank you.
Our updates are available on the internet, in searchable format, at: http://updates.kw-llp.com
In the latest assault on MERS, and in connection with the Ally affidavit news media blitz, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Ohio's chief elections officer and the Ohio state officer responsible for licensing notary publics, today issued a directive to Ohio boards of elections that foreclosures cannot be used without further investigation to disqualify voters, notably allowing the defaulted mortgagors until Election Day to update their addresses.
Ohio Secretary Brunner also referred matters of alleged notary abuse in thousands of home mortgage foreclosures by Chase Home Finance LLC and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. to U.S. District Attorney Steven Dettelbach in Cleveland.
Brunner cited depositions of a Chase employee and a MERS corporate officer. The cited deposition transcripts are available at:
According to the Ohio Secretary, these depositions supposed reveal that 18,000 documents per month are executed and notarized per month by eight people at Chase, supposedly with testimony that: (1) the notary and not the document fills in numbers in the affidavits used in court ordered foreclosures; (2) no oath is administered for the signing of each document; (3) notarized documents are not verified by the person signing and giving oath that they have personal knowledge of the contents of the documents, but rather, signers are relying on verification by others; (4) documents are signed in bulk and notarized in bulk separately; (5) the acknowledging notaries know this at the time they notarize documents in this process.
In addition, according to the Ohio Secretary, the MERS deposition supposedly demonstrates that after corporate status changes occurred for MERS, new designations of authority were not executed, leaving one or more individuals for the former MERS corporation continuing to delegate authority on behalf of the new corporation without authorization by the new corporation.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Ralph T. Wutscher
Kahrl Wutscher LLP
The Loop Center Building
105 W. Madison Street, Suite 2100
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Direct: (312) 551-9320
Fax: (866) 581-9302
Mobile: (312) 493-0874
RWutscher@kw-llp.com
http://www.kw-llp.com
NOTICE: We do not send unsolicited emails. If you received this email in error, or if you wish to be removed from our update distribution list, please simply reply to this email and state your intention. Thank you.
Our updates are available on the internet, in searchable format, at: http://updates.kw-llp.com
