OCC written testimony: Banking regulators open probe into foreclosure document processes

Also,  Lender Processing Services will be probed...


The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is launching an inter-agency investigation into alleged documentation problems at Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS), acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh said Wednesday in prepared remarks for Congressional testimony.

Citing a "breakdown in foreclosure governance and controls that we expect national banks to maintain," Walsh characterized the recent errors in major bank's foreclosure processes as unacceptable. "[W]e are taking aggressive actions to hold national banks accountable, and to get these problems fixed," according to his prepared remarks.

Major lenders, including Bank of America (BAC: 11.62 -2.68%), JPMorgan Chase (JPM: 39.18 -1.09%) and Ally Financial, suspended foreclosure sales in early October when employees were found signing affidavits without reviewing the documentation.

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