GREENSBORO — Guilford County Attorney Mark Payne said he'll talk with the county commissioners tonight about taking legal action to deal with possible mortgage fraud brought to light by county Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen.
"I have looked at it and I believe we have a lot of invalid documents that have been filed with the Register of Deeds," Payne said. "And I believe that this could be a potential harm to citizens fo Guilford County. The citizens do not have accurate documentation of their chain of title. I believe there may need to be some legal action taken to clear this up."
Thigpen announced Wednesday that his ongoing investigation has so far turned up 4,500 “highly suspicious” mortgage and other loan documents. They feature apparently forged signatures from fictitious bank vice presidents, he said. Another 2,300 documents have raised suspicions and are being vetted.
The false signatures are produced in “mortgage mills” contracted by major banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America, Thigpen said.
Payne said he has been examining the results of Thigpen's investigation and thinks legal action may be necessary.
"This is a very real problem for any homeowner whose chain of title includes invalid or falsified documents," Payne said. "It's also a problem for anyone who wants to remortgage or insure a title."
Payne said that though North Carolina has a fairly strong review procedure for foreclosures, the filing of invalid and falsified documents could cost homeowners trying to fight foreclosure or just discover who really owns their property a lot of time and money they may not have.
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