Note: It is anticipated that this page will be updated frequently.
Hearing by Congress
Robo-Signing, Chain of Title, Loss Mitigation and Other Issues In Mortgage Servicing
NOV 18 2011 | REPUBLISHED BY LIT: MAY 9, 2022
“Reports of faulty documentation and fraudulent affidavits in the foreclosure process remind us that we continue to pay a very steep price for nearly a decade of abuses and bad behavior. The notion that many of the very same institutions that helped caused this housing crisis may well be making it worse is not only frustrating; it is shameful.”
HONORABLE DAVID H. STEVENS, ASSISTANTSECRETARY FOR HOUSING/FHA COMMISSIONER, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
WOLF’s v. WELLS FARGO BANK, ET AL.
PLAINTIFFS’ AMENDED MOTION TO DISREGARD JURY FINDINGS AND MOTION FOR JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT
JUL 1, 2016 | REPUBLISHED BY LIT: MAY 9, 2022
Extract re Robo-Signing
26. The evidence showed it was a common practice of some mortgage companies to have “robo-signers,” which Plaintiffs’ expert—Ms. McDonnell—explained were “low-paid staff, uneducated usually, to just simply sign—sit at a table and sign documents.
Often they would not be signed in the presence of a notary.”
4RR65.
She testified that after one prominent mortgage company was discovered to have had other people aside from the purported signer sign documents, without authorization, and prepared and recorded over a million documents all over the country that were “admitted forgeries.”
4RR65.
Ms. McDonnell testified that all the major banks, including Wells Fargo, were the subject of a federal investigation that revealed “a widespread systematic pattern of robo-signing and the creation of documents that were not verified and were not accurate.”
4RR66. This resulted in a cease and desist order that included Wells Fargo. Id.
Furthermore, Tom Croft is an identified robo-signer.
4RR95-100.4 Thus, Wells Fargo’s pattern or practice was to have robo-signers sign documents such as these, often without the knowledge or even consent of the purported signor to affix his name to the document.
4RR65-67;
see also 4RR94 (Ms. McDonnell testifying she found other documents that had been filed by Defendants in county clerks’ offices that were fraudulent in Texas and in other states).
This establishes the elements of forgery, even despite the foregoing blatant and fraudulent misrepresentations.
TEX. R. EVID. 406
(“Evidence of a person’s habit or an organization’s routine practice may be admitted to prove that on a particular occasion the person or organization acted in accordance with the habit or routine practice. The court may admit this evidence regardless of whether it is corroborated or whether there was an eyewitness.”).
27. Carrington and Wells Fargo have conceded Tom Croft was an employee of Carrington, asserted that Carrington and Croft were agents in fact of Wells Fargo, and asserted they intended that Croft execute this document as their agents.
4RR151.
Accordingly, they are liable for the fraudulent filing.
28. Carrington and Wells Fargo used the fraudulently-created and filed documents to establish their claim to Plaintiffs’ property, intending to cause and actually causing financial injury.
The documents filed by Carrington, who claims to have been acting as attorney in fact for Wells Fargo, caused confusion of the title, which prevented Plaintiffs’ attempt to sell the home in 2011 to cure any default on the mortgage (once it was determined who to pay).
3RR37-39.
Plaintiffs’ title company refused to open a title policy.
3RR37-39.5
Additionally, Plaintiffs were required to disclose the foreclosure proceedings to their real estate agent in their listing document, and that the title was in question.
4RR49.
The fraudulent lien filings prevent them from doing so.
Carrington and Wells Fargo were certainly aware that if Plaintiffs attempted to sell the property, their filings would cause the title to be in question, which raises an inference on their intent.
DX2 at p. 4; DX3 at p. 11; PX23.
Plaintiffs could have made a profit of $150,000 on the sale of their home; thus, the fraudulent filings have caused them financial injury.
4RR45-46, 48, 175-76.
WOLF’s v. WELLS FARGO BANK, ET AL.
Documenting the Gaps in the Chain of Title
Mary Ellen Wolf and David Wolf
6404 Buffalo Speedway, County of Harris, Houston, Texas 77005
New Century Mortgage Corporation
Carrington Mortgage Loan Trust, Series 2006-NC3
October 1, 2012
MCDONNELL PROPERTY ANALYTICS, INC.
15 Cape Lane
Brewster, MA 02631
Office Tel: 774-323-0892 | Fax: 774-323-0894
Marie@mcdonnellanalytics.com
REPUBLISHED BY LIT: MAY 9, 2022
About Marie McDonnell
Marie McDonnell is a Mortgage Fraud and Forensic Analyst, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Master Analyst in Financial Forensics with over thirty-four (34) years of experience in transactional analysis, mortgage auditing, and mortgage fraud investigation. She is the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of McDonnell Property Analytics (“MPA”) a nationwide litigation support and research firm headquartered in Brewster, Massachusetts.
“The Breeder Document”
(31) In the lexicon of identity theft, a “breeder document”11 is the alpha-document, genuine or fraudulent, that can serve as a basis to obtain other identification documents or benefits fraudulently.
(32) For example, in identity theft cases the birth certificate is often referred to as the breeder document because once fabricated, an imposter can use it to acquire a driver’s license, Social Security Number, bank account, passport, etc. and obtain rights and privileges of citizenship to which s/he is not legally entitled.
(33) Translating this concept over to the realm of foreclosure fraud, the breeder document is the fraudulent assignment of mortgage, which purports to grant a title interest in the underlying real property to the fraudster, and serves as the basis for obtaining other documents necessary to extinguish the property owner’s rights and transfer full legal and equitable title as well as possession to the fraudster.
(34) In the instant case, the October 15, 2009 Transfer of Lien, executed by Tom Croft, is the breeder document from which have or shall arise all other documents necessary to complete the foreclosure, sale, and transfer of the Wolfs’ Property to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as Trustee for Carrington Mortgage Loan Trust, Series 2006-NC3 Asset-Backed Pass-Through Certificates as explained in detail below.
(See Exhibit D. – Transfer of Lien, 10/15/2009)
11 The Oxford Dictionary: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/breeder+document?region=us.
U.S. Bank NA v. Ibanez, MA, 2011
“We have long held that a conveyance of real property, such as a mortgage, that does not name the assignee conveys nothing and is VOID; we do not regard an assignment of land IN BLANK as giving legal title in land to the bearer of the assignment.” pic.twitter.com/YZfqXNqaUe— lawsinusa (@lawsinusa) May 7, 2022
Rinse and Repeat: Judge Jeralynn Manor Seals Foreclosure Petition for Thayer Properties Inc.
Judge Jeralynn Manor sealed it before, and she seals 2024 case after LIT outed the court and Thayer in December 2023 re this foreclosure case.
Rich Rode, and Rode and Rode Again as Deutsche Bank and PHH Ocwen Case Surpasses 12 Year Vintage
Richard “Rich” Rode is working as a Life Support Manager. We cannot think of a better role when taking on Deutsche Bank and PHH Ocwen.
Lehman Brothers Robosigned Note Resurfaces: LIT’s Yellowfin Fraud Series Digs Deeper
From the Absurd to the Astonishing: Expired Debt Collection, Open Docket Violation, and the Actions of a Rogue Collector for a Fl Debt Buyer.
