County officials across the country are finding mortgage paperwork that were improperly notarized or signed without proper review, dating as far back as 1998, the AP has found in its analysis.

For example, in Guilford County, N.C., about 74 percent of 6,100 mortgage documents filed since 2006 were found to have questionable signatures. 

"Because of these bad titles, property owners can't prove they own the properties they think they bought, and banks can't prove they had the right to sell them," Jeff Thigpen, the registrar of deeds in Guilford County, N.C., told the AP.

Since last fall, banks have faced investigations over “robo-signing” procedures, which consists of shortcuts of approving and reviewing mortgage paperwork and foreclosures. The “robo-signing” scandal has brought many foreclosures into question as home owners have challenged the validity of their mortgage documents. 

Mortgage documents with robo-signed signatures could throw into question the ownership of the properties, says Katherine Porter, a professor at University of California Irvine School of Law. 

Furthermore, if invalid documents are discovered in the chain of ownership, shoddy mortgage paperwork has the potential to delay the sale of a home or make it difficult for buyers to get a mortgage because title insurers won't write a policy for the property, says Justin Ailes, vice president of government affairs of the American Land Title Association. 

Source: “Widespread Robo-signing of Mortgage Documents Found as far Back as 1998 Could Haunt Owners,” Associated Press (Sept. 1, 2011)

The proposed legislation, called the Florida Fair Foreclosure Act, has yet to be filed, but Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, is passing around a draft bill and seeking input.

She said she's received "hundreds and hundreds" of email responses to her request and is making revisions before filing it for consideration during the 2012 legislative session. Full Article

In New York State, it would take lenders 62 years at their current pace, the longest time frame in the nation, to repossess the 213,000 houses now in severe default or foreclosure, according to calculations by LPS Applied Analytics, a prominent real estate data firm.

Clearing the pipeline in New Jersey, which like New York handles foreclosures through the courts, would take 49 years. In Florida, Massachusetts and Illinois, it would take a decade.

In the 27 states where the courts play no role in foreclosures, the pace is much more brisk — three years in California, two years in Nevada and Colorado — but the dynamic is the same: the foreclosure system is bogged down by the volume of cases, borrowers are fighting to keep their houses and many lenders seem to be in no hurry to add repossessed houses to their books.

“If you were in foreclosure four years ago, you were biting your nails, asking yourself, ‘When is the sheriff going to show up and put me on the street?’ ” said Herb Blecher, an LPS senior vice president. “Now you’re probably not losing any sleep.” Full Article



The layoffs come after Fannie Mae terminated its relationship with firm, which requires Ben-Ezra & Katz to transfer its files to other attorneys. The firm advertises itself as a full-service real estate firm focused on Florida foreclosures.

Last week, the firm said in a news release that it was “surprised” by Fannie Mae’s action, “since the issues leading to their action are things we discovered internally, then proactively informed Fannie Mae and created a plan to correct the problems.”

The firm said the problems were “technical paperwork issues” and had to do with whether the correct original affidavits were attached to each file.

This is the second Broward County law firm to lay off hundreds of employees after the mortgage giant stopped doing business with it. In November, Fannie Mae stopped working with David J. Stern’s Plantation law firm, which also is under investigation by the Florida Attorney General’s Office for so-called robo-signing.

A spokesman for Ben-Ezra & Katz said Tuesday that the firm is not part of that investigation.



To demonstrate the need for the Dec. 20 order, New Jersey cited flaws in six Florida foreclosure cases, including three in Palm Beach County, as examples.

In Nevada and Arizona, attorneys general last month sued Bank of America for a dual-track foreclosure system that offers homeowners hope with a loan modification, while at the same time taking away the home in court. Called deceptive and labeled consumer fraud in the lawsuits, the practice is also prevalent in the Sunshine State.

And on Friday, the Massachusetts Supreme Court issued a bombshell ruling against banks' ability to foreclose on homes - a decision could reverberate nationwide.

The moves by other states to address the foreclosure morass has Florida homeowner advocates and defense attorneys asking why more isn't being done here.

The Florida Attorney General's Office is investigating four so-called "foreclosure mill" law firms and is part of a 50-state coalition trying to work out solutions with the banks. Also, the Florida Supreme Court assembled a foreclosure task force in 2009 and requires mediation in all homesteaded foreclosures - a program that has logged minimal success in the year since it became mandatory.

But as hundreds of homes continue to sell at auction each day and the variations of alleged malpractice mount, critics charge that Florida is burying its head in its sandy beaches, waiting for an ocean breeze to blow the whole thing over.

"This collective turning of our backs and shutting of our eyes is not working," said St. Petersburg defense attorney Matt Weidner. "I think there is widespread delusional behavior to pretend nothing is wrong."

And it appears clear something is wrong. Full Article