Attorney General To Help Lead Multistate Investigation Of Defective Foreclosure Docs
October 13, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced today that his office will help lead a multistate investigation into allegedly defective legal documents filed by banks in thousands of foreclosures nationwide.
Blumenthal is one of 12 attorneys general on the executive committee that will lead all 50 states involved in the inquiry.
Banks, including GMAC/Ally, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, acknowledged filing possibly fraudulent paperwork in foreclosures across the country. The banks employed “robo-signers” who allegedly failed to verify the accuracy of foreclosure affidavits and have documents properly notarized, as required by law.
Filing defective foreclosure documents is potentially a fraud on the court, which can result in dismissal of foreclosure cases and underlying mortgages.
“Banks blatantly broke the law, papering the courts with defective documents to railroad consumers into fast, possibly fraudulent foreclosures,” Blumenthal said. “No consumers should lose their house through Big Finance fraud.
“Our powerful multistate investigation will hold big banks accountable, determining how and why they broke the law. At the best, banks engaged in careless negligence, at worst, outright fraud. We will fight to find out what happened, when and why, seeking fair and appropriate remedies for consumers.
“Bankers routinely invoke the rule of law to demand repayment of predatory mortgages they peddled to consumers. The rule of law – requiring proper legal procedure and documentation — must apply equally to bankers. Bankers created this monstrous mess, threatening to unfairly force consumers from their homes and undermine their property rights. We will demand accountability and corrective action to resolve this injustice.”
In addition to Connecticut, the executive committee includes the following attorneys general offices: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Washington; and the following state banking regulators: the Maryland Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation and the New York State Banking Department.
All other states in the nation are also participating in the investigation through their attorneys general offices and/or banking regulators.
View the entire National Foreclosure Statement – (PDF-171KB)
