Media Attention Continues On Use Of False Attorney Signatures On Foreclosure Documents

ProPublica reports:

• Many foreclosures have been thrown into question because of flawed documentation such as inaccurate affidavits describing a mortgage's history. But three recent court cases point to another type of flaw in foreclosure filings that could place thousands more cases in doubt: false attorney signatures on court documents.

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• A suit filed this fall in a federal court in Pennsylvania, on behalf of a homeowner facing foreclosure from the Bank of New York, prompted a striking admission by the bank's lawyers.

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• In October, the Baltimore Sun reported that lawyers from two Maryland firms that handle foreclosures acknowledged that they had not in fact signed many affidavits filed with their signatures and had submitted "corrective affidavits" to try to remedy the problem. The two lawyers, who have reportedly filed more than 20,000 foreclosure cases in Maryland since 2008, told the Sun that they had reviewed the content of all their affidavits although they did not always sign them themselves.

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• A class action suit in federal court in Mississippi against the foreclosure contractor Lender Processing Services includes similar allegations. The suit, which the U.S. Justice Department has joined as a plaintiff, charges that LPS engaged in unauthorized practice of law, according to an investigation by Reuters.

For more, see False Attorney Signatures Cast New Doubts on Foreclosures.