Using fake signatures on mortgage documents, also known as "robo-signing”, remains widespread in the US, more than eight months after major banks and mortgage lenders promised to put an end to the illegal practice, which has led to a nationwide suspension of home foreclosures.
According to a report, thousands of mortgage documents with questionable signatures have been received in at least three states since last fall. These documents come from several companies that process mortgage documents and have been filed on behalf of some major banks.
“Robo-signing is not even close to over,” said Curtis Hertel, the recorder of deeds in Ingham County, Michigan. “It’s still an epidemic.”
To keep up with the crush of foreclosure paperwork, some of the largest banks and mortgage lenders in the US, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, halted home foreclosures while investigating how corners were cut.
Since then, mortgage documents with fake signatures had not only been filed with foreclosures but also with new home purchases and mortgage refinancing. Some said the new findings showed that banks and mortgage lenders have not acted aggressively enough to end document fraud in the mortgage market.
Suspect signatures on mortgage documents include 155 signed by Crystal Moore and 290 by Bryan Bly. In a mortgage investigation last year, both admitted signing mortgage documents without having read them but neither of them were charged criminally.
Meanwhile, enforcement agencies and US lawmakers have called for hearings and further investigation. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, chair of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, noted that the subcommittee will hold a hearing, while Californian Rep. Maxine Waters, a senior member of the House Committee on Financial Services, noted that the lenders who continue the illegal practice “need to be investigated and prosecuted.”
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