Michigan county Registers of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr.'s office found fraudulent assignment of mortgages

Michigan county Registers of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr.'s office found fraudulent assignment of mortgages.


Registers of Deeds in many Michigan counties have begun searching their files for documents that fit a profile of fraud laid out in a 60 Minutes story earlier this month. In the tri-county area, they have found more than 100, most of them used in foreclosure proceedings. The numbers found include 60 in Ingham County, 40 in Eaton County and 14 in Clinton County.




Who to call



To contact county Registers of Deeds, call:



• Ingham County: 676-7216



• Eaton County: 543-4203



• Clinton County: (989) 224-5270

Following the 60 Minutes report, he and many other registers of deeds in Michigan went searching for mortgage assignments they'd received from Docx.


Hertel found 60. Eaton County found 40, Clinton 14.

"In Michigan, filing a fraudulent document in my office is a 14-year felony," Hertel said.

He's already spoken with the state police and county prosecutor. Next month, when other counties have completed their searches, the plan is to go to the state attorney general.

"If we didn't make our payments to the banks, we got foreclosed on. I understand that fully and I'm not saying that shouldn't be the case," Hertel said.

"What I'm saying is that they have to play by the rules, too. They committed a fraud in my office and on the people of the state of Michigan in order to quickly take someone's home away, gave them less time to actually recover. I just feel like they violated the public's trust, and they should be called on the carpet for that."


Following the 60 Minutes report, he and many other registers of deeds in Michigan went searching for mortgage assignments they'd received from Docx.
Hertel found 60. Eaton County found 40, Clinton 14.
"In Michigan, filing a fraudulent document in my office is a 14-year felony," Hertel said.
He's already spoken with the state police and county prosecutor. Next month, when other counties have completed their searches, the plan is to go to the state attorney general.
"If we didn't make our payments to the banks, we got foreclosed on. I understand that fully and I'm not saying that shouldn't be the case," Hertel said.
"What I'm saying is that they have to play by the rules, too. They committed a fraud in my office and on the people of the state of Michigan in order to quickly take someone's home away, gave them less time to actually recover. I just feel like they violated the public's trust, and they should be called on the carpet for that."

Read on.