Attorney suspended in robo-signing case
Another attorney connected to the robo-signing scandal during the foreclosure boom has been suspended from practicing law.
Banks to pay $8.5B in mortgage settlement
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of Americans stand to benefit from the latest mortgage-abuse settlement, but consumer advocates say U.S. banks may be getting the best of the deal. Banks have agreed to pay $8.5 billion to settle charges that they wrongfully foreclosed on millions of homeowners in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. […]
Foreclosure activity edges higher in January
LOS ANGELES — Banks took back more U.S. homes in January than in the previous month, the latest sign that foreclosures are accelerating after slowing sharply last year while lenders sorted out foreclosure-abuse claims. Foreclosures rose 8 percent nationally last month from December, but were down 15 percent from a year earlier, foreclosure listing firm […]
Fannie Mae cited for failing to stop robo-signing
WASHINGTON — Fannie Mae missed chances to catch law firms illegally signing foreclosure documents and its government overseer did not take the right steps to ensure Fannie was doing its job, according to a federal watchdog. The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s inspector general said in a report Friday that Fannie failed to establish an “acceptable […]
Lenders step up foreclosure intent filings
Maryland housing officials say lenders have filed an average of 15,000 intent notices per month against homeowners since January, indicating a new wave of foreclosures may soon hit the state. The disclosure came Thursday after a national report from RealtyTrac that said banks and lenders may soon restart issuing large volumes of foreclosure notices following […]
More Americans at risk of foreclosure in Q2
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans at risk of foreclosure is rising, reflecting the U.S. economy’s continued struggles. The Mortgage Bankers Association says 8.44 percent of homeowners missed at least one mortgage payment in the April-June quarter. That figure, which is adjusted for seasonal factors, rose 0.12 percentage point from the January-March period. In a […]
Mortgage ‘robo-signing’ goes on
Mortgage industry employees are still signing documents they haven’t read and using fake signatures more than eight months after big banks and mortgage companies promised to stop the illegal practices that led to a nationwide halt of home foreclosures. County officials in at least three states say they have received thousands of mortgage documents with […]
Court rules against banks in pivotal mortgage case
BOSTON — The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled against U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co. in a widely watched mortgage foreclosure case that could have serious implications for the nation’s largest banks. The Supreme Judicial Court on Friday affirmed a lower court judge’s ruling invalidating two mortgage foreclosure sales because the banks did […]
Gansler: Victim compensation fund is speculative
State attorneys general and major mortgage lenders are a “long way” from reaching a settlement in the prosecutors’ investigation of “robo-signing” and other alleged activities that have brought the legitimacy of thousands of foreclosures into question, Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler said Wednesday. Gansler’s statement followed a news report that attorneys general from the[...]
Clinic joins foreclosure motions
The students in Peter Holland’s consumer protection law clinic preparing for trial finished Tuesday’s class practicing a cross-examination based on discrepancies in signed bank documents. Holland, on the witness stand as the person who signed the documents, answered questions about the perceived inconsistencies. He maintained all of the signatures were his and he knew what […]