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Linda Green | Lender Processing Services’ DOCX, Lorraine O. Brown, Indicted on Criminal Forgery Charges new

4closureFraud's picture




 

February 6, 2012

Attorney General Koster announces 136-count criminal indictments related to robo-signing in mortgage industry

--Boone County grand jury indicts Georgia corporation and its president for practices highlighted in 60 Minutes report --

Jefferson City, Mo. – Attorney General Chris Koster today announced that a Boone County grand jury has handed down 136-count indictments against DOCX, LLC and its founder and former president, Lorraine Brown, for forgery and making a false declaration related to mortgage documents processed by DOCX.

“Today’s indictment reflects our firm conviction that when you sign your name to a legal document, it matters,” Koster said. “Mass-producing fraudulent signatures on millions of real estate documents across America constitutes forgery. When you file those documents in our state, you are committing a crime under Missouri law.

The forgery and false declaration counts each allege that the person whose name appears on 68 notarized deeds of release on behalf of the lender is not the person who actually signed the paperwork. The documents were then submitted to the Boone County Recorder of Deeds as though they were genuine.

Koster’s office, working in coordination with Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight, requested the indictment, and the Attorney General’s Office will prosecute the case.

The indictments are the culmination of months of investigation by the Attorney General’s Office into the robo-signing scandal that injected thousands of questionable mortgage documents into the market. When the practice began to come to light, several major lenders temporarily suspended foreclosures in 2010. DOCX’s role in the robo-signing process came to national attention when 60 Minutes reported that Linda Green, an employee of DOCX, purportedly signed thousands of mortgage-related documents on behalf of several different banks and in multiple handwritings. The 68 documents on which the indictments are based were purportedly signed by Linda Green, but were in fact allegedly signed by someone else.

Forgery is a Class C felony and False Declaration is a Class B misdemeanor. If convicted on the most serious count, Brown could face up to seven years in prison for each count. DOCX could be fined up to $10,000 for each forgery conviction and $2,000 for each false declaration conviction.

The charges against DOCX and Lorraine Brown are merely accusations and, as in all criminal cases, the defendant is innocent until or unless proved guilty in a court of law.

The Attorney General’s investigation into this practice continues.

### 

Full report from the NY Times here...

Copy of the 136-count Indictment below...

 

www.4closureFraud.org

 

STATE OF MISSOURI v. DOCX, LLC.

 

 

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Tue, 02/07/2012 - 16:38 | 2135214 Cynthia11640
Cynthia11640's picture

As I read the indictment, they are pressing charges because someone filed Deeds of Release. LPS was in the business of processing foreclosures, not recording documents that say the borrower paid off the loan. 

It looks like a bogus complaint because obviously LPS isn't going to have records of these types of filings. Its a perfect defense. Obviously, someone knew of Linda Green and the forgeries, so they filed Deeds of Release on properties with her name when in fact they never paid off the mortgages.  Now the bank would have to prove the borrower still owed the mortgage balance.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 16:08 | 2135107 NotYetDead
NotYetDead's picture

Think of all the borrowers who can't pay their mortgage now, and probably couldn't really afford it when they got it. Had they just signed a lease to rent a home instead of  a mortgage to buy a home, one, they could just go rent a home at a lower rental amount if their income changed and two, the massive run up in real estate prices would have never occurred. But that didn't happen. People were so driven by greed that they would sign just about anything to buy a house. The so-called mortgage victims are only victims of their own greed. Nobody forced them to meet with realtors, look at real estate, bid up prices, sign paperwork and assume debt. NOBODY forced that. It was the greed factor. Pure and simple. 

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 17:58 | 2135686 JLee2027
JLee2027's picture

That's right. And nobody forced the FED to keep lowering interest rates to boom the housing market and nobody forced the Government to tell banks to accept no doc loans to people who couldn't afford the property and nobody forced the banks to listen to the government and nobody forced the underwriters to lose common sense and look the other way and nobody forced the title companies to decline to verify income and accept no doc loans. Nope.

Greed. Must have been the reason.  

 

BTW, I'm thinking of giving out free houses, gas, cars, land, stocks. I only charge a "pickup and signing fee" of $999,000 per person. No payments until 2019. No requirement to show proof of income. Just show up, select your treasure, pickup, sign and you're gone. That's it.

 

Think it will work?

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 18:49 | 2135956 NotYetDead
NotYetDead's picture

You have mastered the victimology mentality. Nice work!

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:56 | 2135052 JLee2027
JLee2027's picture

About time.

All the robo-signers should be charged...and those foreclosures VOIDED/Reversed/whatever.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:49 | 2135020 NotYetDead
NotYetDead's picture

"“Today’s indictment reflects our firm conviction that when you sign your name to a legal document, it matters,” Koster said."

Well what about all those deadbeats who decided they didn't like their mortgage anymore and stopped paying on it? Huh?

Oh no, not the poor little homeowner victims....they were just innocent prey for all the evil mortgage lenders. Well let me tell you, about 80% of these so-called "victims" knowinging misrepresented their income or assets and liabilities when they signed their loan documents. And if we had a governement of laws not emotions, we'd also be prosecuting hundreds of thousands of fraudulent borrowers!

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 18:36 | 2135884 NotYetDead
NotYetDead's picture

I would guess that the dislikes of this comment are from people who have never had a mortgage and probably know little or nothing about the process of obtaining and managing one, or from the deadbeats who don't like to hear the truth about the responsibility of managing long term debt. Think about this...if you go on vacation and rent a RV to travel around the countryside for two weeks. Then, while you are on your two week vacation, it is cold and raining every single day. Would you expect to return the RV two weeks later and not pay for it because the weather didn't turn out as you had expected? Of course not. You signed a contract to pay for the RV, you used it, so you have to pay for the rental. Well a mortgage is no different. Just because your plan didn't turn out like you thought, you signed a contract to use someboby else's money, you used it and therefore you have to pay for it. 

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 18:48 | 2135948 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Once again...

                   Excerpt(s) from "The Big Short":

"In Bakersfield, CA., a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000/yr and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $724,000."

"By May 2007, however, there was a growing dispute between Howie Hubler and Morgan Stanley.  Amazingly, it had nothing to do with the wisdom of owning $16 Billion in complex securities whose value ultimately turned on the ability of a Las Vegas stripper with five investment properties, or a Mexican strawberry picker with a single $750,000 home, to make rapidly rising interest payments."

"'Who takes out a home loan and doesn't make the first payment?' asked Danny Moses, putting the matter one way.  'Who the fsck lends money to people who can't make the first payment?' asked Eisman, putting it another."

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 18:12 | 2135769 Boxed Merlot
Boxed Merlot's picture

what about all those deadbeats who decided they didn't like their mortgage anymore and stopped paying on it? Huh?...

 

It's a contract.  They've either walked away, gave it back, stayed to see it through or otherwise have allowed the rule of law to enforce what it's supposed to do, namely apply uniform laws of bankruptcy.  Only now, we have selective rules of enforcement, once you have enough political clout, you can hop skip and jump through out the globe, a la corzine, without any threat of domestic enforcement. 

 

Puke! 

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 17:04 | 2135357 baldski
baldski's picture

NotYetDead: Check out the Mortgage Banker's Association in Washington DC. They walked away from their mortgage on a $70 million building. If they can walk on their mortgage, they are a person according to the Supreme Court, why can't I walk too? I am a real person and all persons are supposed to be equal under the law.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 18:40 | 2135902 NotYetDead
NotYetDead's picture

I agree. You should be able to walk. Those in non-default judgement states walk every day. But they shouldn't expect to live in their house if they don't pay the mortgage. Those people in default judgment states should have considered that fact long and hard before taking on the debt.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 19:15 | 2136054 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

Fucking touchdown...  it's called walk + bankruptcy...  eat it, learn from your mistakes, improve...  the more prudent (and/or the fucking assholes that caused the whole mess) will purchase your former house for pennies on the dollar and life will go on...  hell, you might even be able to rent it back for a fraction of the old mortgage payment (although, the homeowner probably wasn't paying it anyway, so anything >$0, but still).

The one thing you're never going to hear is PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY...  it's like it fucking vanished or something...  maybe it never was, we're just simply more enabling now...  but JFC...  and the same goes for the banks and all the fucking wannabes who should have eaten their shirt but for uncle sugar's cradling arms. 

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 18:03 | 2135726 chunga
chunga's picture

Classic video on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Mortgage Bankers Association Strategic Default

 

The Mortgage Bankers Association strategically defaults on its loan after shaming homeowners who do the same.
Tue, 02/07/2012 - 16:21 | 2135147 TrulyStupid
TrulyStupid's picture

Both lender and borrower in the sub-prime mortgage fiasco acted stupidly, but not criminally. The robosigners however committed fraud (forgery). Someone needs to take a thrashing... let it be Ms. Green.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:53 | 2135044 waterhorse
waterhorse's picture

Is that you, Jamie?

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 16:09 | 2135111 NotYetDead
NotYetDead's picture

Nope

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:38 | 2134974 licutis
licutis's picture

So little talk that DOCX is a Fidelity National product/company

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 16:08 | 2135104 chunga
chunga's picture

They also like to dabble in software development.

Aptitude Solutions

The old website actually referenced DOCX and LPS. Now notice the CNAME redirect to their new site...lol.

This "Oncore" or "Aptitude Solutions" software actually runs the databases on many of our land record servers!

Awesome!

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:30 | 2134919 Bartanist
Bartanist's picture

She is a little fish and the banks will let her "fry".

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:05 | 2134758 tony bonn
tony bonn's picture

the indictments are heart warming news but we know the final outcome....

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:03 | 2134736 2discern
2discern's picture

Just think if the forger-in-chief ever gets vetted...let's see how many DNC forms per state to be on the ballot stating his eligibility mulitplied times 50 X seven yr. felony charge per offense...whew a few life sentences to make friends with Madoff, Alan Stanford, or his muslim buddies in GITMO

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:22 | 2134863 steelhead23
steelhead23's picture

Give it up dude.  It doesn't matter that Obama is a Kenyan.  What matters is he's a moron.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:01 | 2134722 GoldRetriever
GoldRetriever's picture

Sleepier than "Junkyard" Baum!

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:46 | 2134644 JailBank
JailBank's picture

No death penalty?

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:27 | 2134556 Boxed Merlot
Boxed Merlot's picture

136 charges against only one person at only one company during a fairly short period of time in only one county in only one state.

This is why the collective AG agreement will be shoved through.  The judiciary would actually have to adjudicate and we can't have that.  Life's too short. 

 

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 18:01 | 2135717 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

The proper thing to do is set up a rocket docket and appoint a public advocate that does nothing but defend homeowners in these situations...  it's basically show the proper paperwork or get booted out...  and quickly.  If you get booted out, you eat some statutory fees that pay for the rocket docket and advocates...  homeowner then has a license to default and live for free...  PARTAY!  Until they can create some legit docs...

Also available, for a significant filing fee, would be a declaratory action to determine the real holder/effect of the entire chain of assignments...  that person/entity can then move forward and foreclose on homeowner without capability of dispute.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 13:51 | 2134423 AlaricBalth
AlaricBalth's picture

As much as i hate to say it, there will be no perp walks as long as AG Eric Holder runs the Just-Us Department. According to his infamous 1999 memorandum concerning bringing criminal charges against corporations, Mr. Holder prefers a "voluntary cooperation" system in which the corporations investigate themselves for fraud, and then without admitting or denying guilt, agree to a settlement and pay a fine. This fine, of course, is usually much less money than the corporations made during the course of the fraudulent activities.

Here is the attached memo:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:2zMKZazY49YJ:federalevidence.com/pdf/Corp_Prosec/Holder_Memo_6_16_99.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjBEoDji19eznCnTm6yJW0wGd9sO_adNXhb5tpIe_QpocdcTFUfr4up7C6BIpTHicvu6Qa_r9NptvwyGilktpx1faI-5zR-qp79pRZpHcl4QEuWb9jY7cIGbEox0fxz4ugglMz_&sig=AHIEtbQkv9gag6vZTB1KeFm7_o3WIFlSUw&pli=1

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:41 | 2134977 BidnessMan
BidnessMan's picture

So much for equal treatment under the law.  Quite a contrast to "3 strikes and you are out" - locked up for years for a minor drug or any number of other non-violent felonies.  Bet the millions of actual people locked up in jail would have liked to investigate themselves and then pay a minor fine.  

Just a cost of doing business.  Steal billions.  If - if - the company gets caught, investigate yourself, and if there is no other way out, pay a minor fine compared to what you stole, and promise to never do it again.  Then ignore any prior promise, and repeat the cycle.  Good for quarterly earning whisper numbers I guess.  But no wonder faith in the legal system has cratered.  Very obvious there are two sets of rules.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:21 | 2134532 Chief KnocAHoma
Chief KnocAHoma's picture

Dream on! The banks were just given a get out of jail free card:

http://garereport.blogspot.com/

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:17 | 2134512 surfersd
surfersd's picture

Time to get long MBIA. This is going to strenthen their case against the big banks that they were insuring a much of worthless paper.

MBI to the moon!

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 13:38 | 2134357 pods
pods's picture

Linda Green is the Emmanuel Goldstein of the mortgage industry.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 13:36 | 2134348 trentusa
trentusa's picture

Hey do u guys think this bit about a secret cough classified cough 1930s bankruptcy is a bunch of conspiracy garbage?  Except that it conventiently might explain why the true lender didn't want to sign the mortgage docs...  I'm just going to drop this link below w/ & no further commentin case anybody out there likes acting as his own lawyer then u can throw a wrench in the works maybe...

The problem here is, if you hire a lawyer, who is pledged not to reveal the true nature and cause. How will you ever find out the nature and cause? You won't! Why? If the true nature and cause of the action against you is revealed, it will expose the real creditor from whom this action and cause came. In other words, they will have to name the TRUE creditor. The true creditor will have to state the nature and cause. The true creditor will have to say, "It's a bankruptcy proceeding." That declaration then opens the door for you to question, "Who the hell are you? How did you get attached to my back and by what vehicle did I promise to become a debtor to you?" In this country, the courts on every level from the justice of the peace level all the way up - even into the International Law arena (called the World Court), are administrating the bankruptcy

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/secretoath.htm

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 13:34 | 2134336 Joebloinvestor
Joebloinvestor's picture

They will point the finger at someone else, be thrown under the bus and I seriously doubt if anyone will go to jail.

 

Maybe some "token" fines.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 13:33 | 2134334 LasVegasDave
LasVegasDave's picture

what kind of jail time will be handed out to all the borrowers who overstated their income or borrowed money based on misrepresentations?

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:27 | 2134546 Questan1913
Questan1913's picture

LasVegasDave,

Apparently you along with so many others are incapable of discerning the perpetrator of a crime from the victim  with a wee bit of help from the liestream media misdirection campaign of course.  Many of the applications numbers were altered after the paperwork was signed, and in some cases the borrower was coached to inflate their income.  It is sickening to see how many people are blaming the victims of this massive fraud perpetrted by the mortgage industry Wallstreet banksters and the Lamestream media. Wake up!  The borrowers lost everything: the house, all the massive fees they paid, the downpayment, all the payments they made and their credit rating.  The mortgage companies feasted on these naive borrowers who were influenced by the massive mainstream media campaign to flush out every unknowledgeable potential borrower who had a pulse and rape them, and you are blaming them??

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 16:08 | 2135102 NotYetDead
NotYetDead's picture

Think of all the borrowers who can't pay their mortgage now, and probably couldn't really afford it when they got it. Had they just signed a lease to rent a home instead of  a mortgage to buy a home, one, they could just go rent a home at a lower rental amount if their income changed and two, the massive run up in real estate prices would have never occurred. But that didn't happen. People were so driven by greed that they would sign just about anything to buy a house. The so-called mortgage victims are only victims of their own greed. Nobody forced them to meet with realtors, look at real estate, bid up prices, sign paperwork and assume debt. NOBODY forced that. It was the greed factor. Pure and simple. 

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 18:41 | 2135914 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

                   Excerpt(s) from "The Big Short":

"In Bakersfield, CA., a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000/yr and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $724,000."

"By May 2007, however, there was a growing dispute between Howie Hubler and Morgan Stanley.  Amazingly, it had nothing to do with the wisdom of owning $16 Billion in complex securities whose value ultimately turned on the ability of a Las Vegas stripper with five investment properties, or a Mexican strawberry picker with a single $750,000 home, to make rapidly rising interest payments."

"'Who takes out a home loan and doesn't make the first payment?' asked Danny Moses, putting the matter one way.  'Who the fsck lends money to people who can't make the first payment?' asked Eisman, putting it another."

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:48 | 2134653 LasVegasDave
LasVegasDave's picture

OK, what are these helpless victims’ damages?

The lied or were willfully greedy and bought more house than they could afford.

They paid  their mortgages for a time and in return had nice places to live.

They stopped paying the mortgages and (many) refused to move out, thereby getting a free place to live.

Many damaged the properties, failed to pay property taxes and contributed to a downward spiral of real estate values for all property owners.

So these folks aren’t victims. In fact they profited from the experience. And those who lied to obtain federally backed mortgages should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

 

 

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 21:26 | 2136429 Transformer
Transformer's picture

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him think.

Of course it's the borrower's fault.  It's so obvious.  They were the ones who took away Glass Stegal, they are the ones that thought up MBS and CDS and CDO, just so they could get a house they wouldn't normally be able to afford.  And then, they convinced these gullible bankers to set the whole thing up.

Just sayin'.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:59 | 2134713 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

That depends...  I think that's a really, really fair argument for non-recourse states...  however, in states like mine, where we can obtain deficiency judgments against the debtors for the difference, the debt can be absolutely punitive if desired (with the safeguard of bankruptcy to check and balance this punitive resolve).  In the end, I think the damage is more intangible and prospective...  meaning, all the donkeys now have a financial history that proves they're dolts...  this will make it harder and harder for them to get what few available jobs there are...  to lever up when the time is right...  to do much of anything other than wither away in a lower caste.

And no, they're definitely not victims in this particular issue (we're all victims of the FED's policies, e.g. interest rates, and this issue is sort of ancillary to that, but the decision to sign on the dotted line was all theirs).  A victim is someone who, despite the utmost diligence and due care, falls prey to an immoral or illegal act.  At best, the debtors were apathetic and operated with tunnel vision...  and, realistically, knew the likely result before it happened (although probably pleasantly surprised to get to stay in homes as long as they have without being foreclosed upon and forced to file bk).  

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 17:19 | 2135431 flattrader
flattrader's picture

You are an ass.

There are documented cases where homeowners though they were getting a fixed rate mortgage and were actually getting an ARM because the originator salted the paperwork and then switched-out/replaced documents at closing.

There are cases were the borrowers truly thought they quailfied for a home loan because the orginator switched out income statements and related documents without the buyers/borrowers knowledge and misrepresented the terms of the loan.

The "liar" was the orginator in many cases, not the borrower.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 18:02 | 2135659 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

There are cases of people putting babies in microwaves, harming/endangering/abusing animals after the human died from getting assfucked by a horse (google mr hands, NSFW!), or even suing a homeowner after falling through the roof while trying to burglarize the place...

Point being, you're talking about the exception and not the rule.  I readily admit that I am making generalizations freely in all of my posts...  but I think what you're talking about is an immaterial portion of the loans out there...  (aside from the fact that it's an argument of convenience from the homeowner's perspective, inherently incredibly difficult to prove unless you get some magic documents or have an insider willing to testify).

PS, switching out documents doesn't change the fact that inherently, it's obvious whether you can afford something or not...  it's like the woman on the cnbc special on the subject...  "it was a miracle!"...  no...  god didn't give you a mortgage...  you just suspended disbelief to masturbate to the god of perpetual property appreciation.  fail...  fail^infinity.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:35 | 2134605 chunga
chunga's picture

Key word "AFTER".

Just like this one? That is but a small sample.

Bank of America Responds to Moynihan Lawsuit - Cites Criminal Act Committed By Rogue Foreclosure Mill Harmon Law

The problem with working as a Financial Predator for other Financial Predators is sometimes they eat YOU.

Check out the second embedded pdf.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:08 | 2134484 chunga
chunga's picture

IRS Form 4056 T

Where did that go?

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 13:54 | 2134435 Ned Zeppelin
Ned Zeppelin's picture

"what kind of jail time will be handed out to all greedy and criminal mortgage bankers who pushed for "deregulation" and deliberately and methodically sought out gullible borrowers to further feed Wall Street's insatiable demand for assets to securitize and who further induced those gullible borrowers to overstate their income and borrowed money based on misrepresentations set forth in documents they never read and certainly did not really understand?"

There - fixed it for you.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:30 | 2134587 rayduh4life
rayduh4life's picture

Ask a fe of those folks about ratios, underwriting standards, etc.  for conventional loans and the stuttering, stammering gibberish they spew forth should give you a clue to their ability to "cheat" the bank/game the system.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:50 | 2134669 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

It took two willing parties...  and one's perverse motives do not make up for the other's.

Again, when moral hazard is the norm, the prudent will be mercilessly punished.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:20 | 2134513 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

Ned, I'm sorry, but that's total bullshit.  You're telling me that if I come to you looking for a loan of ~$300k in a @ 5% for a 30yr...  payments being a round ~$2k/mo...  and my take home pay is $2,500/mo with little or no net worth...  that I don't know, from inception, that I'm incredibly likely to default?  [I'm giving some really, high benefit of the doubt here that the payments were ever below the debtor's takehome].

You're taking the guiding hand of the nanny state and extending it up through the assholes of the ninnies and using their bodies like a hand puppet.

Sure, lenders absolutely by hook or by crook got people to try and sign notes for houses...  but, objectively, you do not need any education whatsoever to understand that your takehome pay is less than the monthly payment on the note or, alternatively, dangerously close.  In other words, one of the elements of fraud is justifiable reliance....  which I think falls short in many of these instances (hence the imposition of truth in lending, et al).  In the end, objectively, most of these people should have known better.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:21 | 2134851 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

"You're taking the guiding hand of the nanny state and extending it up through the assholes of the ninnies and using their bodies like a hand puppet." LOL. Now that's Prose. And also, I couldn't agree more. This was affirmative action at its worst.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 14:33 | 2134597 rayduh4life
rayduh4life's picture

OK, Machoman, then why would the bank not know that said borrower could not make the payments and knowing so, why would the bank then make the loan? 

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