50 States – Attorney General McCollum Announces Multistate Effort to Reign in Mortgage Servicers for Deceptive and Unfair Practices

4closurefraud.org:

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced an on-going effort to reign in mortgage servicers and protect Floridians from purported deceptive and unfair practices. Attorney General McCollum, along with 48 other Attorneys General, are part of a multistate effort to stop mortgage loan servicers from allegedly submitting affidavits or signing notices that appear to have procedural defects of either a judicial or non-judicial foreclosure.


Investigators allege that many mortgage documents have been signed without personal knowledge of the facts asserted in the documents. In addition, it appears that many affidavits were signed outside of the presence of a notary public. This process of signing documents without confirming their accuracy has come to be known as “robo-signing” and is in direct violation of Florida law.

The 49 states are joining together to form a multistate group comprised of both state Attorneys General and state banks and mortgage regulators to more effectively address the issue. The multistate group, led by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, plans to speak with all relevant mortgage servicers as soon as possible to determine whether or not each company has improperly submitted affidavits or signed notices in support of a foreclosure in the states. State bank and mortgage regulators are participating both individually and through their Multistate Mortgage Committee, which represents mortgage regulators from all 50 states. Florida is taking a leading role in this multistate initiative as a member of the Executive Committee of the multistate group. The Executive Committee is also comprised of the following Attorneys General Offices: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Washington; and the following state banking regulators: the Maryland Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation and the New York State Banking Department.

Participating Attorneys General

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii Department of the Attorney General / Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Participating State Bank and Mortgage Regulators

Arizona Department of Financial Institutions

Arkansas Securities Department

Connecticut Department of Banking

D.C. Department of Insurance Securities and Banking

Florida Office of Financial Regulation

Idaho Department of Finance

Illinois Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation

Indiana Department of Financial Institutions

Iowa Division of Banking

Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions

Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions

Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection

Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions

Maryland Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation

Division of Banks, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Michigan Office of Financial & Insurance Regulation

Minnesota Department of Commerce

Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance

Montana Division of Banking and Financial Institutions

Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance

Nevada Financial Institutions Division and Mortgage Lending Division

New Hampshire Banking Department

New Jersey Department of Banking & Insurance – Office of Consumer Finance

New York State Banking Department

North Carolina Commissioner of Banks

North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions

Ohio Division of Financial Institutions

Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services – Division of Finance

and Corporate Securities

Pennsylvania Department of Banking

Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation – Division of Banking

South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs

Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions

Texas Department of Banking

Texas Finance Commission and Consumer Credit Commissioner

Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration

Washington State Department of Financial Institutions

West Virginia Division of Banking

Wisconsin Department of Banking

Wyoming Division of Banking