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Foreclosure Fraud Bombshell – Thousands of Pennsylvania Foreclosures Could Be Void
Hmmm, I wonder where else this happens??? /sarcasm
Thousands of Pennsylvania Foreclosures Could Be on Shaky Ground
Two
Pennsylvania cases, one state and one federal, have exposed new types
of document problems in foreclosure cases. One of the cases has
potentially transformative consequences for thousands of troubled
Pennsylvania homeowners. At the center of each is the same law firm:
Goldbeck McCafferty & McKeever (GMM).
A
lawsuit filed by Patrick Loughren against GMM details how the firm
allowed — and perhaps still allows — nonlawyers in its firm to file and
prosecute thousands of foreclosures.
Kimberly A. Robinson v Countrywide Home Loans, BAC
Kimberly a. Robinson v Country Wide Home Loans, BAC
As
long as a lawyer supervises foreclosure filings, and at least reads
them before they’re submitted to the court, that is acceptable. But
Loughren is suing because all three named partners of GMM, Joseph
Goldbeck, Gary McCafferty and Michael McKeever, have admitted
under oath — during depositions last September and in a separate case
in December 2009 — that no attorney ever read the filings. The partners made clear that the practice has gone on for the past several years.
Video – Attorney Signatures – The Next Fraud Battle Ground
Posted by Foreclosure Fraud on October 2, 2010 ·
Foreclosure
Deposition Clip Witness = Goldbeck, McCafferty & McKeever
corporate designee pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
30(b)(6) Date = 9/21/10 Individual sitting as the designee = Gary
McCafferty Trial Lawyer = Patrick J. Loughren Well well well… The
video above is an actual deposition where an attorney just recently
admitted to frauds we … Read more
Foreclosure Deposition Clip
More examples from Matt Weidner’s Blog for a Florida perspective…
Attorney Signatures – The Next Fraud Battle Ground
The Florida Rules of Civil Procedures require that all pleadings filed in a case be signed by a licensed Florida attorney.
I have started to examine files and am becoming increasingly
suspicious that this important rule is not being followed by the foreclosure mills.
I
am therefore starting to examine all my pleadings closely and I
encourage each of you to do the same. Ultimately I would like to
build a database of these signatures to compare, so for those of you
out there that are spending time looking at court filings, please
start examining the signatures and making a cut and past document
similar to the one I attach below.
My first example of gross
irregularities in the signature of an attorney who makes filings in a
court case comes from Ohio. The document was prepared by a reader
of this blog and it comes from an Ohio foreclosure mill attorney.
Please look at the sheet. There really is no commentary necessary
regarding whether these were signed by the same person….
Given
what we know about the foreclosure mills and their operations
(particularly the offshore components of their practice) I cannot
imagine that they are following this rule. (I mean the violate every
other rule)
Foreclosure Fraud – Attorney Signatures – The Next Battle Ground
Foreclosure Fraud - Attorney Signatures - The Next Battle Ground
You can read more about Matt’s excellent work here…
Next up, Patrick J. Loughren’s Complaint in Equity…
Patrick J. Loughren Complaint in Equity
Patrick J. Loughren Complaint in Equity
Far-Reaching Consequences
Loughren declined to talk with DailyFinance
(nor would he even give us the complaint, which is electronically
available from the court), and as of now, GMM hasn’t returned our calls
either. (We learned of the case from Walter Roche’s story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.) But
Loughren’s complaint is so detailed, and the partners’ admissions so
damning, that if this case is decided on the merits, it’s hard to see
how Loughren could lose.
If Loughren does win, the consequences could be far-reaching: All
current foreclosure actions filed by GMM could be dismissed on the
grounds that lawsuits filed by nonlawyers are a “nullity,” meaning they
don’t count. That’s hundreds, potentially thousands, of cases across Pennsylvania.
All completed foreclosures that were brought using this method could also be called into question for the same reason, and given that the practice has been going on for years, a Loughren win could throw into question the title to thousands of Pennsylvania properties. In addition, any homeowners who paid legal fees to the banks and GMM during their foreclosures could get that money back.
Bank of America Knew
Loughren notes that in both cases involving the partners’ testimony about the practice, Bank of America (BAC)
was the foreclosing bank. It was actually present during the December
2009 trial when the admissions were first made. Loughren points out
that BofA’s representative at that trial, John Smith, is himself a
lawyer, and so presumably understood the legal significance of GMM’s
admission.
Other BofA employees surely learned about the
practice too, given that the December case was an effort by the U.S.
Bankruptcy Trustee to sanction both the bank and GMM for misconduct,
and evidence submitted for it showed the involvement of “high-ranking”
BofA people not normally involved in a foreclosure, such as its
assistant general counsel.
Although the practice of having
nonlawyers file suit wasn’t at issue in that case, learning of it upset
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Thomas Agresti so much he wrote in his
Oct. 5, 2010 order:
“During the trial the Court
also became aware of some apparently routine practices at GMM that
raise issues that cannot be ignored. McKeever testified to a procedure
at his firm whereby foreclosure complaints are prepared and filed by
non-attorneys and never reviewed by an attorney, even though the
“signature” of an attorney appears on the document. . . . Even though
these actions are not being filed in this Court. . .concern for our
sister courts in this Commonwealth compel the Court to at least make
publicly known what it learned during the trial. Furthermore, often
these fundamentally flawed foreclosure actions, form the basis for
related relief in this Court should the state court defendant
subsequently file a bankruptcy petition. Therefore, the Court is
concerned about the continuation of this practice by GMM.”
Sharon Diane Hill, Roberta a. DeAngelis v Country Wide
Return of “Legal” Fees
In a related Nov. 24, 2010 order, the judge noted that although two of
GMM’s clients temporarily suspended working with the law firm, Bank
of America did not. Even though the bank learned that GMM’s practices
could be jeopardizing many of its foreclosures, the bank continued to
work with the firm and pocket related foreclosure fees, at least as of
Nov. 24.
Sharon Diane Hill, Roberta A. DeAngelis v Countrywide Sanctions Order
Sharon Diane Hill, Roberta a. DeAngelis v Country Wide Sanctions Order
Full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/eOevFg
Looks like someone got some splainin to do…
~
4closureFraud.org
»
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This mortgage business just won't go away and is looking really bad for the MiniBernanks.
Fixed it. I'm in the mortgage servicing industry (information security) and let me tell you ... (hard) RECORDS RETENTION just got moved completely to the top of priorities list on all projects. And the C-level execs are all scared shitless that something is coming.
This mortgage business just won't go away and is looking really bad for the MiniBernanks.
Thanks for updating us and keeping us informed. The mortgage crises lit the fuse, and it's not going away. It's not going to end well.
John Hathaway asked him how it would all end and Ron Paul said, "With a crack up of the currency." (KWN interview with John Hathaway)
Are we still pretending that we are living in a country with borders, a real central bank and laws?
Where am I?
To find out more about the Imminent Collapse of the Global Economy, watch this video "Wall Street Thieves, Bailouts Galore, Broken America" at (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I93dzfs8WIc).
by Anonymous
The United States economy is rotten at the core and has been stolen from the American people by the Wall Street Thieves that drove the Titanic into the iceberg in the first place!!
Oh goody... this'll be interesting.
The 6GB dump related to B of A that Julian Assange has been preparing would most likely provide further insight into this. He is under attack not because of the Iraq war documents or the diplomatic stuff, they are desperate to prevent him from taking down B of A.
+6G!
This is great news. Another way to drag out foreclosures, so that artificially inflated prices and the juicy arbitrage between them and the distressed market will last even longer. Me and my buddies were worried that too many foreclosures next year would simply overwhelm us and kill the last good inflated markets, but I feel much better now. Thanks guys, keep up the lord's work!
To solve future problems on this issue, BAC is frantically, and I mean frantically (all employees of the various mortgage departments have been granted unlimited overtime) working to "modify" existing loans that are in some stage of default. We all know that this TBTF institution is technically bankrupt (thanks Reggie), so the extra costs in this ongoing process will be borne by the ultimate sukkahs, the American taxpayer, by virtue of all those POMOs of the FED.
That's why they rehired blind, old grandpas as judges in Florida; they can no loger distinquish ink from paper and will make people homeless based on weather report.
What a shame on legal system!!!! Rocket Docket.
You know, the appointment/election of judges has always confused me. When I saw Matt Taibbi's article on foreclosure and the rocket dockets, I wondered who appointed the retired judges and under who's influence. Should these judges have been elected rather than appointed?
Bottom of the housing downturn in only 22 more years per Martin Armstrong's cycle work
How we get there is just entertainment
> clouded titles
> foreclosure fraud
> Boomer downsizing
> several years worth of shadow inventory
> 2 years worth of housing for sale currently
> excess inventory yet builders continue to build
> 100's of trillions of dollars worth of real estate based derivatives to unwind
> rising unemployment
> increasing duration of unemployment
As a Pennsylvania attorney, I am astonished, and cannot imagine how the attorneys invovled at the Goldbeck firm avoid serious disciplinary action. They relied on the relative defenseless of their hapless foreclosure defendants, and the utter disinterest of the legal system in protecting and enforcing these defendants' right to due process, to insulate them from the risks they were taking (sound familiar?). But fully confident that the story that will win the day will be the tale that this is all nothing more than the whining of deadbeats, and their socialist-liberal Obama-loving attorneys.
LOL. Astonished?
You just got your bar card yesterday, right?
I know what you mean, though. Why no ethics complaints? They make such a fuss about that stuff in school. BTW, do you now have an affirmative duty to file one against them yourself?
Bob,
See my above post. My guess is that there have already been ethics complaints, etc. I doubt the attorney in the first case posted was just fishing... the attorneys deposed said they had changed the practice since 2006... I'm guessing they've either paid out $ for malpractice and/or had been dinged by the ethics committee to cause the change in practice (presuming the testimony is true... but I presume that it would be given the implications of their admissions)...
Nope - had my card long enough to know that there are some bad apples, but most attorneys wouldn't put up with this at their firms for a whole lot of reasons, some noble reasons, and some eminently practical reasons.
Ned, generally the foreclosure mills are very well connected (despite general hate from the bar at large). Here at least, you can pretty much do anything so long as you do not screw with your client's trust account. If you improperly take funds from their trust accounts, you can plan on getting your license shredded. [e.g. we had a case here where an attorney was exchanging legal services for sex from the spouses of some of his clients and/or directly from clients and he's suspended, but will be rocking and rolling before you know it].
Practically speaking, for me at least, the public is not protected any more by an attorney skimming through the complaint for 5 minutes than if he had never reviewed it... Likewise, the client will be protected given the complaint can be amended at any time...
Most all of this will be cured, naturally, through malpractice actions anyway... I would not be worried so much about disciplinary action as I would be the judgments against all involved and the increases in their malpractice premiums. These could roll into some really, really large numbers for foreclosure mills (clearly they can't put out the number of foreclosures given the amount of time involved without the use of non attorneys). It's a slamdunk case for malpractice...
Might want to short the insurance companies of the foreclosure mills.
PS, from the depo testimony on the first case, the firm claims that it has changed these practices... it's probably gotten dinged already with disciplinary action or civil suit (maybe how the subject attorney knew to ask this line of questioning).
Regardless of how you feel about banks, I don't see this as a big deal. So what if a "licensed attorney" didn't review the documents? To me, the issue is: is the person living in the home current on their payments and does the entity initiating the foreclosure have standing to do so?
"To me, the issue is: is the person living in the home current on their payments and does the entity initiating the foreclosure have standing to do so?"
Coming out of bankruptcy, she was current. It still took a legal tussle to keep from being thrown out of the house.
Count, it is universal that a judge may void any actions taken in court by a non-attorney (presently have a lawsuit disputing non-filed/non-court documents drafted by a non-attorney, which has a completely different standard). I'm sure the standard changes by jurisdiction whether the court is required to void the proceedings, but with practicality in mind, I'd say it's going to happen. As a result, we arrive essentially at a "standing" issue... the person filing the documents (non-attorneys, despite the firm's name on the documents) has no standing to bring the foreclosure action, given said person is not licensed to practice law.
Generally speaking, nothing upsets attorneys more than other professions/people invading our regulated monopolies. Unfortunately for non-attorneys (fortunately for us!), the persons who decide their fate will be... wait for it... attorneys.
So, you favor giving banks a pass on complying with the law - who else do you think is above the law? Your version of the how the law should work is interesting. And while I understand your view from a layman's perspective (although urge you to reconsider the "slippery slope" implications of your argument that this is all somehow OK), the point is that the lawyers, believe it or not, are not only supposed to know better, but it is a core condition of their license to practice law.
Ned,
No, I think banks sure comply with the law. However, I fail to see this as a bombshell, as it is presented by 4closure Fraud.
Do you think people delinquent on their mortgage should be allowed to take full and clear ownership of a house because of a technicality in the foreclosure proceding? Hopefully not. In this case, if the party initiating foreclosure failed to have a member of the legal guild sign off on some paperwork, I would think the solution is to send it back to have it done properly. No?
the jews naked shorted everyone's housing title.
They probably sold at least 10x the notional for every NINJA time bomb they lit to pension funds and municipalities across the world.
There is no bottom to these "people". None whatsoever.
Count Floyd: agree no free houses, but don't skip over the issue of fraud in the inception of these transactions whereby the unsophisticated and trusting were lured into mortgages with hidden terms that were certain to result in foreclosure. These guys cleaned clocks on both ends of the deal and the middle too!
the bombshell isn't salvation for the home owners. its what happened on the financial end
investors were sold bonds on the promise they were backed by mortgage liens. the liens were not properly handled by anyone in the chain. therefore the bonds are legally backed by nothing. now, holders of these instruments want to collect on their collateral. the lawyers who were paid to review the documents should have uncovered the defects, instead they used fraud to conceal them.
this is a giant fraud. not only involving the homeowers, but all of the investors in the MBS. that is where the crime occurred. if you don't see it that way, about this example? I've got some bonds right here I can sell you, cheap. they're for the Brooklyn Bridge. I can print as many as you want right here on my copier. don't worry that they're not notarized, filed with any county clerk or followed any of those silly rules that have been aound for centuries to protect against the very fraud that occurred. don't worry that they are signed in crayon. my lawyer sez they're just fine, ...same difference. Am I wrong?
"send them back" to who exactly? some of these mortagages involve a dozen entities and went international. just where does the buck stop?
now, ask yourself this question. you get a speeding ticket. you go to the judge. your defense is I meant to go the limit, but I was real busy and didn't have time, besides my friends name is on the car title, not mine, so can I have a do over? think that would fly? would it be right if it did?
There are several issues here:
The question that needs to be answered is: What are the punishments and the remedies for all of the above?
This is not only a legal issue, but also a moral issue.
Everyone has an opinion on who is to blame and to what degree, who is rewarded and who is punished, based on their own biases and insecurities.
That is why there are such a wide variety of opinions.
and lets talk about Cheney's role in outing an operative - Valerie Plame - remember that? Well not sure how old you are so maybe not.
Oh also Colin Powell going before the UN and not being so truthful:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-09-08-powell-iraq_x.htm
Thing is that moving forward people need to start working together ... not sure how it is going to happen though
it wasn't cheney or even libby who outed her. it was dick armitage as part of some convoluted neocon chess move.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwJCUZHZjV8
agree that working together is the only solution. too bad it ain't going to happen. the original tea party could have been the vehicle. too late now.
and lets talk about Cheney's role in outing an operative - Valerie Plame - remember that? Well not sure how old you are so maybe not.
Oh also Colin Powell going before the UN and not being so truthful:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-09-08-powell-iraq_x.htm
Thing is that moving forward people need to start working together ... not sure how it is going to happen though
We know our political class is incompetent, bribed and corrupt beyond salvation...
We know our finance capital oligarchy aka Wall Street are criminally corrupt with fraud as their only business model...
Man Up Time US Judges
The Fraudclosure epidemic is a measure of just how corrupt our judges and judicial system have become...
The evidence of conspiracy and fraud are overwhelming to systemic RICO levels...
Got Balls? Or Bribe Taking Mosquito Nads?
What actions will judges and the judicial system as a whole take?
Or not take?
i think even bigger fraud is the BROKEN CHAIN OF TITLE that they went back and post dated !!!
these banks have committed FRAUD at every stage of the process .....i would guess it was happening all along but now that almost "everyone" is in foreclosure, the fraud was too big to contain.......that or some of their peers turned against them , either for money or to clear their conscience
Bingo.
Documented, sworn-to, testified fraud.
Anyone in jail?
Anyone going to jail?
If you or I lied about something, dug up/fabricated some paperwork to show to the court after-the-fact, and tried to pass it off as 'the truth' while on the stand, we'd never make it out of the courthouse. These cocksuckers get bonuses!
Seasmoke said:
"these banks have committed FRAUD at every stage of the process .....i would guess it was happening all along but now that almost "everyone" is in foreclosure, the fraud was too big to contain.......that or some of their peers turned against them , either for money or to clear their conscience"
the banality of the evil-doing done, the routine multi-state implementation, the USA wide MERS system of custody transfer..and the TaxPayer bailouts... everyday for years and for millions of mortgauges....
Well, when there is only a few such FRAUDS, the judicial system is properly sized to handle...so full punishments, full remedies...
But NOW its millions, over many years...a mere statistic...
Hence, firstly is the systematic legal permanent adjustments: that should have been made justas soon as FannyMae, Freddie...and other pseudo govenmental agencies became involvedGovernmental or NOT, the necessary civil legal span should have been made NATIONAL...just like Bankruptcy...THOSE kind of mortgages SHOULD have been put under Federal Criminal/Civil code....as MERS attempted to to do, sort of...nationalize the actual custody of houses and mortgauges..
That undoubted will necessarily be done..in this Time of Economic Emergency..
First THAT, then the Federal Jurisdiction will have been precedented-in...next will be emergency, perhaps semi-retroactive Federalization of ANY of the 'Securitized Mortgauges, sold to the Public and Other countries...some put-backs inevitable
and THEN, the Fanny/Freddie 'standard securitizations' held in their own portfolios....THATS WHAT THEY DID, you for 20++ years, nothiing new..
And THEN, depending on the 'statute of limitations, existing, and newly enacted specially for the current crisis..' SOME select example banks, processors, etc will be punished, maybe one or two actually put in a Federal Country-Club Prison...for a couple years
.....nothing here to see, you've already seen the same, over and over, so move along...sheep and know your station in life...
Got to disagree with you here. First of all, the banksters love federalization of anything that concerns them because they own Wash DC. We would not have this industrial strength fraud without the assurance that mere laws will not harm the banks or the bankers' bonuses. Second, there will be no justice if the laws that were broken are not enforced. Massive fraud has created massive problems and should result in massive punishment. Do it. Third, the putbacks need to occur so that the chain of title may be protected. The media focuses on the delays in clearing housing inventory created by foreclosure defense. However, the banks who sold the bad mortgages into the trusts are diligently fighting the putbacks and slowing the process but not being blamed for the slow foreclosures. Fourth, only the imprudent would buy a REO at this point in time. The deed is too weak and the chain of title is suspect. Fifth, unless we desire some level of anarchy as opposed to social cohesion and an environment for productive risk-taking (think return of demand and productive job creation), we must allow the wheels of justice to grind in the state courts so that a sense of justice is restored.
Forget the bandaids and take the cure.
Nothing to explain, except what we all know. The entire financial industry, real estate industry, ratings industry and government are blatant scams. Everyone involved in these organizations above the level of janitor belongs in jail.
Nice that you mentioned government. I get a kick out of ZH and the other finblogs going on & on with their incessant rantings about banks.
Hello. It started with the central government, and it will end with the central government. They were the instigators, enablers & profiteers - the banks merely performed the necessary functionary duties.
Yes, they were well paid; but who really profited? To what extant does the current police state er, form of government resemble itself from 10, 20, 50, or even 200 years ago? Does it bear any resemblance at all, or does all it share is a name which it co-opted?
When the history of this sordid period is finally written, our descendants will view us much the same way we currently view German citizens caught up in the Nazi dragnet.
I think we can now assume that foreclosures have been corrupt every step of the way and now void. Everyone back to square one please.
...Disgusting...
Exceptional work and thanks for all you do 4closurefraud. I wish you the best. Sorry to be so negative, but what will stop this "administration" and "CONgress" from rubberstamping new laws to protect their beloved banksters in the name of "national security"? The fraud is so rampant that I'm not so sure the courts are even trustable anymore. Things really suck. Their backs are aganst the wall. They are despreat and bankrupt. Nothing will stop them till the rape of the middle class is complete and corporations rule. Again, sorry for being so negative. The work above is veru promising and excellent, but robosigning is barely slowing them down. Thy don't care and the slap on the wrist, admittance of no wrongdoing and a fine that will amount to 10% of their plunder is all that will come of it. Very sad times here.
This may have started with foreclosures, but the biggest problem now is to prove who actually owns any house that was tossed onto the MERS shitpile, had the note separated from the mortgage, and then tranched up into god-knows-how-many MBS bonds. Does an honest homeowner, who has made all of his payments on time, really own the house with the right to sell? Will some jackass pension company in Germany show up two years down the line to claim that they were never paid and therefore are going to foreclose?
The administration can pass all of the laws they want to bury this, but the reality may be uglier than a hippo in a tutu. Any house in the MERS database, performing or not, is potentially in permanent limbo. The banks cannot foreclose, and the owners cannot sell or refinance.
Aren't you glad that the smartest guys in the room worked really hard on the concept of monetizing mortgages? Overpriced, stupid, moronic PhD's from Harvard and MIT...
Very nice summary. Precisely why the laws were on the books, and why following them TO THE LETTER is important, and not just some paper work.
++
I figure, though, that our Ruling Class will finesse there way out of this. Foreclosure fraud does not, in any event, prevent someone from losing their house if they didn't pay - but it does throw in to question who owns the sold, foreclosed properties...and, of course, if everyone actually has to obey the law in these matters, foreclosures will grind to a halt (funny how lawyers will take short cuts to get 'round the legal complexities they've created in order to make themselves indispensible). Given the nature of this problem, we can expect someone to regulate it away - find some judge, somewhere, who will say that everything's cool.
Solution: cut back on all the laws and regulations regarding this and make it all much more straight forward - including allowing distressed homeowners to surrender their property with no deficiency judgement or credit hit.
As soon as the Banksters give back their bonuses, profits and slush money they pocketed as the experts and custodians who KNEW they have a fiduciary responsibility to properly handle, store and maintain these records, documents etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.
Sorry, but the only actual cost to the banksters per transaction is dotting i's and crossing t's and performing proper custody of said paper work. It's the law. It's what they are ostensibly paid to do. They should be held up to a VERY high standard, as they are custodians of documents that prove ownership of the REAL property which is the core of the wealth of the average person. At this point the banksters deserve no mercy, no easy button, no get out of jail free card.
Yep - it's that simple.
Crazy...No doubt all of the TBTF lenders have the same issue. This will also have a domino effect on the putbacks initiated by MBS lenders. Nasty..QE3 is on the way.
this is one of those rare super-important articles on zh....this is outstanding news which i hope energizes millions to examine their foreclosures for legal remedy.....
fuck bank of america.
Double post, deleted.
Agreed.
We need to fight, and fight now.
These are not free markets, this is not democracy, this is not "business as usual."
It looks like that black woman who said "Obama gonna pay my mot-gije" was more right than the doomers would care to admit.
To think... yesterday the Doomer was holding her up as a sign of the end of modern society... today that Doomer is cheering on the same thing. I guess the lure of Free Money and "something for nothing" will cause many to put aside their morals.