Saturday, March 05, 2011

Bank of America foreclosure fraud

Check out this fraudulent deed of trust and assignment of mortgage document of Bank of America recorded in the county records in the state of California. Lender is Provident Funding Associates. Trustee is First American Title Company. MERS is mentioned as the nominee of the lender. But, there is a big problem. The MERS ID number on the deed, MIN:1000179-4514030076-0, shows Bank of America as the servicer and Fannie Mae as the investor. And what is interesting is that the Substitution of Trustee Assignment of the Deed of Trust that gives power of MERS to foreclose on the property was robo-signed by a person named Gulshan Oomerjee as Assistant Secretary. And check out Gulshan Oomerjee on Linkedin. As you can see that this fraudulent document recorded in the county doesn't appear legally as the California short form deed of trust from Fannie Mae:





I had written an article in January that robo-signing forclosure affidavits are illegal in the state of California. And in the case of the Bank of America document, the document would be considered fraudulent and illegal.

Michael Patrick Rooney, a lawyer in San Francisco, California, wrote an article that examined legal rights in California of robo-signing foreclosure affidavits:

Robo Signers are illegal in California because good title cannot be based on fraud, robo signed non judicial foreclosure sales are void as a matter of law, the documents are not able to be recorded in California if they are not notarized, which we know was often not done properly, and finally, because they robo signed forgeries ARE intended for judicial proceedings, including evictions and bankruptcy relief from stay motions.

Mr. Rooney cites a law case of a fraudulent transaction California law is settled. The Court in Trout v. Trout, (1934), 220 Cal. 652 at 656 where good title can't be based on fraud :

“Numerous authorities have established the rule that an instrument wholly void, such as an undelivered deed, a forged instrument, or a deed in blank, cannot be made the foundation of a good title, even under the equitable doctrine of bona fide purchase. Consequently, the fact that defendant Archer acted in good faith in dealing with persons who apparently held legal title, is not in itself sufficient basis for relief.” (Emphasis added, internal citations omitted).

In California Civil Code 2934a, requires that the beneficiary execute and notarize and record a substitution for a valid substitution of trustee to take effect. If the Assignment of Deed of Trust, the substitution of trustee, or the Notice of Default is robo-signed, the sale is void.

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