Written by Biloxi
When it rains, it pours for the banks. We are now learning that robo-signing was not just on foreclosure documents but also on debt collection in the credit card industry. But, this latest method of robo-signing is pretty low: Robo-signing a deceased individual's name. A credit card company, Providian (acquired by Washington Mutual in 2005 and now owned by JP Morgan Chase), had employees signing affidavits to delinquent borrowers in a deceased woman's name for over a decade. Here is the story.
Her name is Martha Kunkle. She had died in 1995. Ms. Kunkle's name was used by employees who worked with her daughter, Lorraine Kunkle, at the credit card company. Ms. Kunkle's signature later appeared on thousands of affidavits submitted by Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. in lawsuits filed against borrowers.
In 2008, Judy Montoya, an employee at Portfolio Recovery Associates, testified in a debt-collection suit filed by the company that its “legal specialists” sign as many as 200 affidavits a day. The company’s spokeswoman said such employees sign an average of 100 affidavits a day and are guided by “a very rigorous set of policies and procedures.” Ms. Montoya couldn’t be reached to comment.
Questions about Martha Kunkle first popped up in 2008 after her name appeared in thousands of affidavits generated by a unit of Providian National Corp. The credit-card issuer sold an undisclosed number of delinquent account balances to Portfolio Recovery Associates and other debt collectors, which then sued the borrowers to collect the debt…..
Concerns about Ms. Kunkle’s affidavits were raised in 2008 by lawyers for Jeanie Cole, one of thousands of Montana residents sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates to collect debts. After failing to locate Ms. Kunkle, lawyers for Ms. Cole interviewed her daughter, who worked at Providian in a document-processing division.
The daughter testified in a deposition that other Providian employees used the name Martha Kunkle when signing affidavits. Along with other employees, the daughter was responsible for signing affidavits. After countersuing Portfolio Recovery Associates for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Ms. Cole was the lead plaintiff in a 2008 federal-court suit in Montana alleging the company targeted 16,000 borrowers using “false and misleading” affidavits.
Minnesota's attorney general is investigating numerous buyers and collectors of consumer debt for falsifying affidavits. So the robo-signers allow financial firms such as banks and now credit card companies to skip a step that also served as a quality control on their procedures. How much of robo-signing at credit card companies have not even come to light?
From Wall Street Journal:
In 2008, Judy Montoya, an employee at Portfolio Recovery Associates, testified in a debt-collection suit filed by the company that its “legal specialists” sign as many as 200 affidavits a day. The company’s spokeswoman said such employees sign an average of 100 affidavits a day and are guided by “a very rigorous set of policies and procedures.” Ms. Montoya couldn’t be reached to comment.
Questions about Martha Kunkle first popped up in 2008 after her name appeared in thousands of affidavits generated by a unit of Providian National Corp. The credit-card issuer sold an undisclosed number of delinquent account balances to Portfolio Recovery Associates and other debt collectors, which then sued the borrowers to collect the debt…..
Concerns about Ms. Kunkle’s affidavits were raised in 2008 by lawyers for Jeanie Cole, one of thousands of Montana residents sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates to collect debts. After failing to locate Ms. Kunkle, lawyers for Ms. Cole interviewed her daughter, who worked at Providian in a document-processing division.
The daughter testified in a deposition that other Providian employees used the name Martha Kunkle when signing affidavits. Along with other employees, the daughter was responsible for signing affidavits. After countersuing Portfolio Recovery Associates for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Ms. Cole was the lead plaintiff in a 2008 federal-court suit in Montana alleging the company targeted 16,000 borrowers using “false and misleading” affidavits.
Minnesota's attorney general is investigating numerous buyers and collectors of consumer debt for falsifying affidavits. So the robo-signers allow financial firms such as banks and credit card companies to skip a step that also served as a quality control on their procedures. How much of this sort of illegal practices of robo-signing at credit card companies has not even come to light? Well, there is one case to watch: Linda Almonte. Linda Almonte, a former JP Morgan Chase employee at Chase's credit card litigation department. Ms. Almonte filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission against JP Morgan Chase of illegal practices involving its credit card debt processes including robo-signing. Ms. Almonte's lawyer, George Pressly wrote:
In 2008, Judy Montoya, an employee at Portfolio Recovery Associates, testified in a debt-collection suit filed by the company that its “legal specialists” sign as many as 200 affidavits a day. The company’s spokeswoman said such employees sign an average of 100 affidavits a day and are guided by “a very rigorous set of policies and procedures.” Ms. Montoya couldn’t be reached to comment.
Questions about Martha Kunkle first popped up in 2008 after her name appeared in thousands of affidavits generated by a unit of Providian National Corp. The credit-card issuer sold an undisclosed number of delinquent account balances to Portfolio Recovery Associates and other debt collectors, which then sued the borrowers to collect the debt…..
Concerns about Ms. Kunkle’s affidavits were raised in 2008 by lawyers for Jeanie Cole, one of thousands of Montana residents sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates to collect debts. After failing to locate Ms. Kunkle, lawyers for Ms. Cole interviewed her daughter, who worked at Providian in a document-processing division.
The daughter testified in a deposition that other Providian employees used the name Martha Kunkle when signing affidavits. Along with other employees, the daughter was responsible for signing affidavits. After countersuing Portfolio Recovery Associates for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Ms. Cole was the lead plaintiff in a 2008 federal-court suit in Montana alleging the company targeted 16,000 borrowers using “false and misleading” affidavits.
Minnesota's attorney general is investigating numerous buyers and collectors of consumer debt for falsifying affidavits. So the robo-signers allow financial firms such as banks and credit card companies to skip a step that also served as a quality control on their procedures. How much of this sort of illegal practices of robo-signing at credit card companies has not even come to light? Well, there is one case to watch: Linda Almonte. Linda Almonte, a former JP Morgan Chase employee at Chase's credit card litigation department. Ms. Almonte filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission against JP Morgan Chase of illegal practices involving its credit card debt processes including robo-signing. Ms. Almonte's lawyer, George Pressly wrote:
"On numerous occasions, Ms. Almonte witnessed these Affidavit Signers work through at times 3-feet tall stacks of Judgment Affidavits at once during weekly multi-hour long, non-related company meetings. The notaries were not present at these meetings. The Affidavit Signers simply relied on hourly workers to reconcile amounts owed and then treated the actual execution of the affidavits as busy work to be performed while the Affidavit Signers could focus on other matters."
It makes you wonder if any of the robo-signing affidavits in Ms. Almonte's lawsuit bares Martha Kunkle's signature.
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