Wednesday, February 15, 2012

California Audit Finds Broad Irregularities in Foreclosures

An audit by San Francisco county officials of about 400 recent foreclosures there determined that almost all involved either legal violations or suspicious documentation, according to a report released Wednesday.

Commissioned by Phil Ting, the San Francisco assessor-recorder, the report examined files of properties subject to foreclosure sales in the county from January 2009 to November 2011. About 84 percent of the files contained what appear to be clear violations of law, it said, and fully two-thirds had at least four violations or irregularities.

The report comes just days after the $26 billion settlement over foreclosure improprieties between five major banks and 49 state attorneys general, including California’s. Among other things, that settlement requires participating banks to reduce mortgage amounts outstanding on a wide array of loans and provide $1.5 billion in reparations for borrowers who were improperly removed from their homes.

But the precise terms of the states’ deal have not yet been disclosed. As the San Francisco analysis points out, “the settlement does not resolve most of the issues this report identifies nor immunizes lenders and servicers from a host of potential liabilities.” For example, it is a felony to knowingly file false documents with any public office in California.

In an interview late Tuesday, Mr. Ting said he would forward his findings and foreclosure files to the attorney general’s office and to local law enforcement officials. Kamala D. Harris, the California attorney general, announced a joint investigation into foreclosure abuses last December with the Nevada attorney general, Catherine Cortez Masto. The joint investigation spans both civil and criminal matters.

The depth of the problem raises questions about whether at least some foreclosures should be considered void, Mr. Ting said. “We’re not saying that every consumer should not have been foreclosed on or every lender is a bad actor, but there are significant and troubling issues,” he said.

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2 comments:

Barbara Ann Jackson said...

Aside from appalling foreclosure frauds by lenders and servicers, URGENT attention needs to be given to the Elephant in the Room -hiding in plain sight: Lawyers who intentionally file foreclosure proceedings in Civil Courts, and who file fabricated "Lift Stay" motions and "Proof of Claims" in Bankruptcy courts when they know fully well the LENDERS ARE DEFUNCT, ought to be investigated and prosecuted!

Lenders and Bankers ARE NOT required to know law and court procedure as it pertains to legitimate pleadings that become filed in court, but lawyers are required! Yet, untold numbers of lawyers are engaged in Real Estate racketeering in probably every State across the nation. All anyone has to do is look at the thousands of falsified property deeds that become filed into court records by lawyers who pretend to have carried out legal auctions. Instead, those lawyers held "simulated" auctions whereby their friends or even court personnel, illegally placed "credit bids" on real estate and walked away with homes unlawfully.

Millions of people are living outdoors because of NULL foreclosures carried out by lawyers -which the properties never become returned to lenders. Lenders file falsified IRS 1099-A's and collect mortgage insurance, etc. Often, those illegally acquired properties become ILLEGALLY FLIPPED AND SOLD TO FREDDIE MAC. To repeat, this decades of existing racketeering is clearly visible by looking at Bankruptcy Court and Civil Court, and Sheriff auction records to see property deeds recorded in illegal names. As such, incalculable amounts of foreclosed properties that have been sold, have fatally defective property titles, because the owners NEVER LAWFULLY LOST OWNERSHIP OF THEIR HOMES. *more @ http://www.change.org/petitions/request-for-congressional-foreclosure-panel-to-examine-foreclosure-lawyers

SP Biloxi said...

I appreciate your comments. It is spot on. There needs to be more oversight and more importantly prosecutions for those individuals involve in creating, participating, and profit from the foreclosure fraud. More importantly, all attorneys invole in foreclosure fraud or present fraudulent docs in court should be disbarred.