New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo wants information from four large mortgage servicers - Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and GMAC Mortgage/Ally - concerning the filing of affidavits that falsely attest the signer has personal knowledge of the facts presented in home foreclosure proceedings, a practice known as “robo-signing.”
Cuomo also called on all mortgage servicers engaged in “robo-signing” in New York to immediately suspend all foreclosure actions in the state until they correct their procedures to comply with New York law and can assure the public and the courts that integrity has been restored.
“Such conduct is a fraud upon our courts and a slap in the face of New Yorkers struggling to get by in this economy," he said Tuesday.
Recent reports indicate that employees of these mortgage servicers routinely signed affidavits submitted in foreclosure proceedings without personal knowledge of the underlying facts or verification of loan file information, and without even reading the documents they signed.
This practice, known as “robo-signing,” has tainted the integrity of the foreclosure process by which homeowners in New York lose their homes. Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage announced that they were temporarily halting pending foreclosures, while Wells Fargo has not suspended foreclosures despite the deficiencies uncovered.
Cuomo wants the mortgage servicers to submit documents and information concerning how foreclosure documents are prepared, verified, attested to and notarized, and how required notices are provided to New York homeowners. The letters request that the mortgage servicers stop re-filing foreclosures that had been suspended (and in Wells Fargo’s case, cease proceeding with
pending foreclosures) until the Attorney General’s office is certain that reliable and fair procedures are in place and that accurate, trustworthy documentation will be submitted to the New York courts.
The letters also request that the mortgage servicers refrain from filing any new foreclosures until they can provide assurances that their procedures comply with New York law and are neither tainted nor inaccurate.
Along with the review of Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo and GMAC Mortgage/Ally, Cuomo is working with other state attorneys general, banking regulators and other interested parties to assess the veracity of servicers’ foreclosure filings and ensure the fairness and accuracy of their processes.
