Another form for robo-signing forgery found by one determined grandmother, Abby Carr that will continue more investigations into the bank practices in the foreclosure mess. A former Director in Information Technology for a Fortune 500 company has put her skills into action in her fight to determine title on her own home. She discovers major robo-notary operation.
Now, in fighting to determine title on her home, she has discovered something even more slimy and with much broader implications. In an attempt to validate a ‘squiggle’ type mark on a recorded document with the Alameda County Recorder’s office, Ms. Carr felt it imperative that she obtain a copy of the page from the notarial journal from the California notary who performed the notarization of the ‘Corporation Deed of Assignment’ related to her property.
Ms. Carr, under California laws, is entitled to purchase a copy of the page in the notarial journal related to her property and so she wrote to the Orange County Recorder’s office and sent a check to cover the copy fees. Orange County is where the notary was registered. Within weeks she received a certified letter back from the Orange County recorder stating that they should have the notarial journal, but they did not have it. See, once a notary is no longer a notary in California, it is the law that they must turn in their notarial journal to the county recorder.
Ms. Carr, in a lawsuit against her home loan originator Home123 Corporation, now in bankruptcy in Delaware, asked recently in informal discovery if they had the notarial journal. The answer came back ‘no’.
Ms. Carr asked if the particular notary, one Andres Rojas, was an employee of Home123 or New Century Mortgage. The answer came back ‘yes’. Home123 Corporation is a subsidiary of New Century Mortgage. Both have been barred from conducting business in California since 2007 by the California Corporations Commissioner. Un-deterred Ms. Carr then proceeded to obtain a copy of the bond paperwork filed with the California Secretary of State by the notary. She saw an address for Andres Rojas on that paperwork.
Keep in mind Andre Rojas was a robo-signer for New Century Mortgage. Here are some examples of forgeries of notarized of illegal stamped signatures by Andres Rojos. Click here.
Though persistence, Ms. Carr located Andre Rojas:
Upon doing further internet research she discovered at least 6 different addresses for the notary. She sent a letter to each address, having no real knowledge of which might be the most current. One was even in Las Vegas. She asked the notary to contact her as she wanted a copy of the page from the notarial journal related to her property. It was a pure long-shot that the notary might still have the notarial journal in his possession.
Incredulously Ms. Carr got a phone call just prior to Thanksgiving and it was the wife of the notary. She indicated that he indeed still had the notarial journal and also stated that he had performed hundreds upon hundreds of the notarizations upon assignments, lost note affidavits and modification agreements while employed at Home123 Corporation & New Century Mortgage. Ms. Carr then emailed information on the date the recorded document had been signed and notarized and the notary sent back scanned copies of the page(s) of his journal. In California there is a requirement for a finger print of the person signing the property related document and Ms. Carr knew that could be very helpful in determining who really put the ‘squiggle’ on the Corporation Deed of Assignment. The assignment went from Home123 Corporation to U.S. Bank, N.A. and Ms. Carr had never done business with U.S. Bank, nor ever had a loan with them. The attorneys for Home123 bankruptcy trustee also indicated to Ms. Carr that her loan had been sold to Chase just days after she closed on it. Indeed Ms. Carr believes she has located her home loan number in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission and it is in REMIC securities trust which Chase created, namely JPMAC2006-NC1.
Ms. Carr sat incredulous, reading and re-reading the scanned page(s) and then she communicated with the notary again. She verified that there were no other pages completed in the notarial journal and none with the date her document was notarized May 22, 2007. Her document also had handwritten ‘effective 4-12-2007’ essentially backdating the assignment. Ms. Carr got validation back from the notary that the ‘effective 4-12-2007’ was NOT on the document when he notarized it. Thus, not only was the document tampered with after notarization BUT it was invalid as this particular notary did NOT do any further journal entries beyond March 6, 2007!
Here is an example of one of the line entries in Andres Rojas notary journal for March 5, 2007: Lost Note Affadavit, Modification Agreement, Corporate Assignments all signed by Steve Nagy (a Home123 Corp. and New Century VP of Records Management).
What is interesting is that on January 2010, according to the Orange County clerk recorder in Santa Ana, CA document, Mr. Rojas notary journal was missing. However, Ms. Carr obatined Mr. Nagy's notarial journal. Ms. Carr is now asking California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and new California Attorney General Kamala Harris to investigate the matter. Ms. Carr's finding is not only because notaries were robo-signed but her findings would be a serious interest to investors:
Because if the assignments are invalid then, according to IRS laws on REMIC trusts (a tax entity and is usually formed as a trust for federal income tax), they were not really in the securities trust by the cutoff date when the investments were sold to the institutional investors. This would allegedly mean that the banks and investment houses were selling vaporware to investors and reaping the benefits of scamming the IRS out of taxes due. This would allegedly mean the banks and investment houses were committing fraud.
This would also mean that many lawyers representing the banks and investment houses, allegedly have been conducting fraud upon the courts in foreclosure actions & in the presentation of lost note affidavits to the courts…..yes even in the homeowner bankruptcy. This may have implications to those who are current on their mortgages, for they may not have clear title when they go to sell their homes, refi or even pay off their mortgage loans due to the defective assignment.
Ms. Carr's clever investigation does open the door to possible similar practices in other states. Certainly, it will be interesting the conclusion of the investigations by the Secretary of State and state Attorney General.
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