ProPublica This story was co-published with Slate. A few months ago, Bank of America offered Sergio Cortez of Staten Island, N.Y., the help he desperately needed to stay in his home: a break on his mortgage. Like millions of others, he was facing foreclosure. But there was a catch buried in the fine print. Cortez …
by Marian Wang, ProPublica When problems in the foreclosure process caused banks to temporarily freeze foreclosures last fall, the focus was on improperly signed foreclosure affidavits–legal documents used when foreclosure are required to go through courts. But as we’ve noted [1], most states are “non-judicial [2]” states, meaning foreclosures can proceed without a court order. …
The New York Times is reporting debt collection agencies have been robo-signing even more files than have mortgage companies for foreclosures. The robo-signing is a big deal because before a creditor moves against a consumer they are supposed to review the file and complete an affidavit the information they are stating is true and accurate. …
by Marian Wang, ProPublica The unfolding foreclosure scandal just keeps expanding. Scrutiny first fell on the “robo-signers” who rubber-stamped banks’ foreclosure paperwork, but they’re one of the many players who may have contributed to the mess.To help sort it all out, we’ve drawn up a cast of characters. Let’s start with the basics: Loan Originators/Mortgage …
by Marian Wang,ProPublica The scandal over flawed paperwork and sloppy practices by mortgage servicers continues to broaden. The issue is complicated, and “robo-signers” — individuals working for servicers and signing off on thousands of foreclosure documents without much verification — are only part of the picture. So we brought some of our questions about the …
by Marian Wang, ProPublica Three of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers have halted foreclosures as scrutiny increases over whether they verify the required paperwork. Several other servicers have also been faulted for foreclosure affidavits that were signed without much authentication, but they have not yet halted foreclosures. Last week, we noted that the discovery of …