Who Owns Your Mortgage? What Happens if They Can’t Prove it?
What happens when foreclosing lenders can’t prove they own the mortgage and note? One law firm allegedly solves the problem by fabricating missing documents.
Palm Coast, FL – April 29, 2029 – What happens when foreclosing lenders can’t prove they own the mortgage and note*? One Tampa law firm allegedly solved the problem by fabricating documents. Florida’s Attorney General’s office is looking into the matter.
The AG’s Economic Crimes Division is investigating a Tampa law firm that specializes in foreclosures. According to the AG’s website, Florida Default Law Group, PL "appears to be fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases. These documents have been presented in court before judges as actual assignments of mortgages and have later been shown to be legally inadequate and/or insufficient. Presenting faulty bank paperwork due to the mortgage crisis and thousands of foreclosures per month. This firm is one of the largest foreclosure firms in the State. This firm appears to be one of Docx, LLC a/k/a Lender Processing Services’ clients, who this office is also investigating."
Trillions of dollars in home mortgages were initiated during the housing bubble. Many were of dubious merit and doomed to default. Primary lenders sold the mortgages to other banks that, in turn, passed them on to Wall Street investment banks. Wall Street packaged the loans, made them smell sweet by spraying them with S&P or Moody’s High Credit Ratings perfume so they could be insured against default (Credit Default Swaps). The nice-smelling securities were sold to unsuspecting investors.
The transfer process didn’t leave a good audit trail. Records were lost, leaving lenders unable to prove they own the note and mortgage. Some judges have ruled these lender did not have standing to foreclose.
Apparently some people are solving the problem by fabrication missing documentation. Others are offering to get defaulted owners off the hook by performing forensic audits and/or offering foreclosure relief services. Beware of both approaches. Before paying anybody in advance, check out the Florida AG’s website. <Mortgage Fraud>
It never stops
Toby,
If I am reading this correctly, the attorney’s are fabricating this documentation, showing up to court, delivering these false papers to the courts all of which allows the banks to ultimately foreclose on the property? If that is the case then there is no way that the banks are not fully aware that their legal representation is committing fraud, maybe even at their direction.
This is shocking to me that a law firm would even consider this action. This is fraud to the highest degree. A fraud that is causing people to unjustly loose their homes. Every single person who was involved in the directing, preparing, or submitting of these false papers should be disbarred and thrown in prison.
This is totally outrageous that officers of the court would take such actions as to falsify evidence in such a massive way and only to clean up the mistakes that their clients made due to their own greed.
I am honestly applaud.
RE: Toby
I know I shouldn’t be surprised. It is just sad commentary that the people who are supposed to uphold and enforce the law are doing such things as this. Especially in these cases which involve real people with real families who are being forced out of their homes.
mortgages and lawyers
Toby, great article as usual. What DOES happen if a mortgage company cant show actual documentation of where the loan went?
Its chaos
This stuff is true. We have the deposition of "notary" who signed more than 300 affidavits on one day attesting she had reviewed each foreclosure file and had personal knowledge of the bank’s loan file. Turns out she was hired about a month before to be just that a notary. They call her a "robo signer." We have cases where the bank (Chase) cannot prove they own the note. As a result, one case has stalled for more than 28 months. We are discussing a 50% reduction in priciple and a new 5%/30 yr mortgage.
Reply to John
Very little surprises me anymore. But I’m surprised that you think lawyers should be presumed moral and ethical. I have nothing against lawyers. Some of my best friends are lawyers. I’d even let my daughter marry a lawyer. But we have crooks in every segment of society; law, politics, banking, Wall St., real estate…. (Don’t get me started). We can only hope that the bad guys are exposed (as in this case) and that the punishment matches the crime.