- Some of the nation’s largest mortgage companies used a single document processor who said he signed off on foreclosures without having read the paperwork – an admission that may open the door for homeowners across the country to challenge foreclosure proceedings.
- As head of Ally’s foreclosure document processing team, 41-year-old Jeffrey Stephan was required to review cases to make sure the proceedings were legally justified and the information was accurate. He was also required to sign the documents in the presence of a notary.
- In a sworn deposition, he testified that he did neither.
- The reason may be the sheer volume of the documents he had to hand-sign: 10,000 a month. Stephan had been at that job for five years.
I’m feeling really good about the bank bailouts right now; how about you? But wait, there’s more!
- Spokesmen for Fannie and Freddie confirmed Tuesday after inquiries from The Washington Post that they use Ally, formerly called GMAC, to oversee some mortgages. The companies have launched internal reviews to assess the scope of any potential issues.
GMAC got a $17 Billion bailout from TARP. According to Elizabeth Warren, chair of the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel:
- Despite a $17.2 billion TARP investment, there is still no clear business plan for GMAC.
- Treasury did not, for example, condition access to TARP money on the same sweeping changes that it required from GM and Chrysler: it did not wipe out GMAC’s equity holders; nor did it require GMAC to create a viable plan for returning to profitability; nor did it require a detailed, public explanation of how the company would use taxpayer funds to increase consumer lending.
So it would seem possible that Fannie and Freddie, massive government-backed mortgage lenders, are using government-owned GMAC to service some mortgages, and their idea of “servicing” these mortgages is demonstrably to submit false evidence in court so that they can evict taxpayers from their homes. I’m so confused, and am loving this bank bailout more by the hour.
This is what you get when the government runs the economy. Any questions?
