We have attached an excellent document produced by Reuters that gives a good overview of not only the problems with robo-signers but explains the facts surrounding missing mortgage paperwork that is suddenly found – albeit maybe with different signatures and fabricated legal affidavits.

Click HERE —>  Mortgage Mess Robo Signers Return – Reuters Report May 2011

If you want to see how the bank or their lawyers can fake your signature check this machine out  —> Auto Signer

Here is an example of different signatures for the same person.

Foreclosure are back with a vengeance in the Greater Houston area- just in time for Christmas.

While November saw a lull in the number of homes posted for the monthly foreclosure auction, December is set to roar back with over 6,700 homes posted for sale.

Posted Homes for Foreclosure

Posted foreclosures for the Greater Houston Area total 6,732 which is a 23% jump from last month’s 5,462.   Montgomery County took the lead with a 35.8% increase over November’s posted foreclosures.  Brazoria is not far behind with a 33.1% increase in postings.  Harris County and Fort Bend County finished neck to neck with increases of 22.2% and 21% respectively.   Galveston County finally slowed down from the last few months with only a 16.8% increase.

Here we go for the December 7, 2010 sale date*.

• 4,712 vs 3,857 for November – Harris County (Houston, Pasadena, Baytown, etc.) +22.2% increase
• 326  vs  279 for November – Galveston County (Galveston, Clearlake, Texas City, etc.) +16.8% increase
• 817 vs. 675 for November – Fort Bend County (Missouri City, Sugar Land, Richmond, etc.) +21% increase
• 334 vs. 251  for November – Brazoria County (Pearland, Alvin, Lake Jackson, etc.) +33.1% increase
• 543 vs. 400 for November – Montgomery County (Montgomery, Conroe, Splendora, etc) +35.8% increase
• 6,732 – TOTAL

*data is derived from Foreclosure Information & Listing Service, Inc and The Gore Law Firm.

While many of the large banks claimed to have foreclosures on hold in October (and yes even November) so they could review their foreclosure procedures it appears they didn’t “hold” back much in the Greater Houston Area.

Harris County shows 786 foreclosed in November vs 1,246 foreclosed in October.

Fort Bend County shows 114 foreclosed in November vs 170 foreclosed in October.

Montgomery County shows 108 foreclosed in November vs 138 foreclosed in October.

Bottom Line:  Don’t trust the bank unless you have it in writing and then still watch your back (and the small print).

If your client was involved in a short sale or loan modification and was foreclosed upon anyway you should immediately seek legal help and hammer the bank back into compliance.

Taking the money & the house

Don’t let them steal your real estate commission from a short sale that you worked on in good faith.   Don’t let them get away with a wrongful foreclosure and hurt the homeowner.

- The Bank Slayer

*data from Foreclosure Information & Listing Service, Inc.

J.P. Morgan Chase, who only weeks ago was busted AGAIN for fraudulent and fabricated documents halts foreclosures just like GMAC (Ally).

Fitch Ratings, which is a credit-rating firm has said that “defects”, i.e. fraud, have been found in foreclosure documents at Chase and that these type of “defects” are industry-wide.  DUH??

It has been widely circulated that Beth Ann Cottrell in her deposition admitted to orchestrating the signing of over 18,000 documents without reviewing them.

The sad but funny part is that J.P. Morgan spokesman Tom Kelly said that he “does not expect to find any factual problems or that customers have been harmed, but if we do find any cases we will take appropriate action.”  REALLY?  Like what, put up a bond to cover the homeowner when Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Treasury department comes looking for the house that Chase stole.   There have been multiple cases of more than one “owner” of the debt looking to collect.

Want an example…I’m looking at a foreclosure notice in my office for one of our clients that “claims” that Bank of America, through BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P., owns the mortgage debt and has the right to foreclosure, in other words has the Note and the Deed of Trust for this borrower.

Hi, I'm Bank of America. I own you!

Problem is that they DON’T.  Want proof, look here.

Hi, I'm Freddie Mac and I own you

Hi, I'm Freddie Mac and I own you 2

Freddie Mac bought the debt and most likely sold it into the securities market.  But at a minimum BofA doesn’t have it.

This kind of junk is wide-spread and the norm for most of these mortgage servicers.

If you or someone you know is facing a foreclosure or trying to get a short sale pushed through then get an attorney who specializes in SUING banks not just some yahoo with a J.D. that claims he knows how to do loan mods or short sales and/or deed-in-lieu’s.

These deals can be won with litigation.  Proof is in the pudding (or in this case in the courts.)

Below is the article from today in the Washington Post.

- The Bank Slayer

J.P. Morgan will halt foreclosures

By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 30, 2010; A1

J.P. Morgan Chase, one of the nation’s leading banks, announced Wednesday that it will freeze foreclosures in about half the country because of flawed paperwork, a move that Wall Street analysts said will pressure the rest of the industry to follow suit.

The bank’s decision will affect 56,000 borrowers in 23 states where allegations of forged documents and signatures and other similar problems are being used to try to overturn court-ordered evictions. Yet the impact may be much broader, given J.P. Morgan’s stature in the industry. If other banks adopt the same approach, the foreclosure process in many parts of the country will grind to a halt.

Officials at Fitch Ratings, a credit-rating firm that measures the health of companies, said the “defects” found in foreclosure documents at J.P. Morgan are industry-wide. Underscoring that concern, Fitch said it is considering whether to lower the grades it gives to the mortgage servicing divisions of the nation’s largest lenders.

“Over the next few weeks, we expect to see more and more companies come out with similar announcements,” said Diane Pendley, a managing director at Fitch.

The paperwork problems at J.P. Morgan mirror those uncovered last week at another large mortgage lender, Ally Financial. But J.P. Morgan’s decision is expected to have a much greater effect on the industry because it is held in high regard by its peers. By contrast, Ally, formerly known as GMAC, is still under the cloud of a $17 billion federal bailout package that it has been unable to pay back.

Both firms are investigating whether foreclosure files were improperly assembled, and whether their employees failed to review the documents even as they signed off on them. A growing number of homeowners – even those who missed their mortgage payments – are now scrambling to challenge the proceedings, weighing down an already overburdened court system.

J.P. Morgan had declined to address the matter until Wednesday. But in a sworn deposition, one of the bank’s employees, Beth Ann Cottrell, admitted that she and her team signed off on about 18,000 foreclosures a month without checking whether they were justified.

J.P. Morgan spokesman Tom Kelly said Wednesday that the firm “does not expect to find any factual problems or that customers have been harmed, but if we do find any cases we will take appropriate action.”

In addition to the measures that private lenders have taken, four states – California, Colorado, Connecticut and Illinois – have called for a moratorium on all foreclosures initiated by Ally, while attorneys general in seven other states have opened civil or criminal investigations related to flawed foreclosures.

Even as the extent of the problems has become more apparent, the Treasury Department has declined to answer specific questions about the matter since it surfaced last week.

On Wednesday, Treasury spokesman Mark Paustenbach said that officials have been in touch with Ally and that they expect it to take “prompt action to correct any errors.” He added that the agency is “monitoring their progress.”

Treasury officials raised the issue personally with Ally chief executive Michael Carpenter during a recent meeting, according to an administration official.

Yet the agency’s response has frustrated some consumer advocates. A few lawmakers have also called for investigations of whether homeowners are being improperly removed from their homes.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said Wednesday that the Treasury Department and relevant federal agencies should begin their own inquiry.

“With millions of families losing their homes, it’s inexcusable for companies like Ally to be this patently negligent,” he said. “I want the federal government to hold Ally accountable and ensure that homeowners who wrongly received foreclosure get the compensation they deserve.”

Ira Rheingold, director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, criticized the Treasury Department, saying it has not been forthcoming about what actions it is taking to the remedy the situation.

The agency has been “protecting servicers and investors and doing what is minimally possible to help homeowners,” he said.

Other consumer advocates say administration officials face a no-win situation. If they determine there is no reason to take action, they may be criticized for not helping homeowners. But taking extreme measures such as calling for a national moratorium on foreclosures could hurt the economy and damage the housing market.

Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moodys.com, said that, in the worst-case scenario, the document-processing problems could lengthen the foreclosure process from three years to as long as a decade, especially if homeowners use the flawed paperwork to appeal their evictions.

The long holdup could have “macroeconomic consequences” as a destabilizing force on housing prices. Banks could become more unwilling to extend credit to households or to small-business owners who use homes as collateral. And investors who had been keeping home prices propped up by buying foreclosures may stop and never come back.

He added, however, that it is still an open question how the courts will handle the paperwork problems.

Ally officials on Wednesday declined to comment on any ongoing or potential investigations, but they have said that they are confident that “the processing errors did not result in any inappropriate foreclosures.”

Company officials have declined to disclose how many loans may be affected and how much remedying the issue might cost, but spokeswoman Gina Proia said the firm “does not anticipate significant adverse effect on Ally related to this matter.”

The decision makers at Flagstar Bank need a good flogging and they got the first lash on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 when Judge Carolyn E. Baker of the 295th U.S. District Court in Harris County signed a Temporary Restraining Order halting the foreclosure sale of a property in Houston.

Like many homeowners, this family suffered a financial setback and had fallen behind on their mortgage.  They worked hard to save their home and get back on their feet.  Finally they were ready to catch back up but like many banks, Flagstar refused.

After failing to get Flagstar to be reasonable and allow them to catchup they came to us.   We worked with the homeowners to secure a modification of their loan and in December 2009 they signed the new modification.

The homeowners made their first six monthly payments, but then Flagstar decided it wanted the house more than it wanted the monthly payments and rejected their July payment.  Flagstar then immediately moved to foreclose on the home on August 3, 2010.

After dozens of attempts to resolve the situation, Flagstar finally said it would postpone the sale and accept payments.  But then after telling the homeowners that they would not foreclose they pulled a dastardly trick and faxed over a denial of the loan modification on Monday, August 2 at 6:30 pm.  Flagstar must have figured that since the sale was the next day it would be too late for the homeowner to react and stop the sale.  They were wrong.

Hats off to the The Gore Law Firm who immediately filed an application for a temporary restraining order and rolled into Judge Baker’s court on Tuesday AM.  Attorney, James Caruthers scored a knockout blow when he convinced the Judge to sign a Temporary Restraining Order halting the foreclosure sale by Flagstar.  The Gore Law Firm rushed the TRO to the courthouse steps two blocks away and hand delivered the Judge’s order to the foreclosure trustee.

The foreclosure was stopped and Flagstar was put in their place.  Score one of the good guys.

- The Bank Slayer

While RealtyTrac is reporting overall foreclosure filings in Texas are down 10.7% from last month they are still up 19.2% compared to October 2008.   1 in every 800 homes in Texas received a foreclosure notice which is far better than other parts of the country.

But some Texas counties are fairing worse than others.  Fort Bend County foreclosure filings are up over 67% year over year, Harris County is up over 23%.

If you’re one of the folks facing an imminent foreclosure don’t delay.  Texas has one of the fastest foreclosure process in the country.  You can lose your home in as little as 21 days.  Take action today.

- The Bank Slayer