Pennsylvania Notary Unlicensed In New Jersey At Center Of Garden State Robosigner Scandal

The New York Post reports:

• The face of New Jersey's robo-signing scandal may be a Pennsylvania notary public who signed thousands of foreclosure documents in the Garden State even though he wasn't licensed there.

• Thomas Strain, who now heads the bankruptcy team at GMAC Mortgage Corp., has emerged as a key player in New Jersey's foreclosure mess through a damning report that swayed the state's top judge to crack down on rogue foreclosure filings by the nation's largest mortgage lenders, including GMAC.

***

• In announcing the measures [to halt abusive foreclosure practices in the state, including rubber-stamping documents without verifying their authenticity, known as robo-signing],(1) [New Jersey's chief justice, Stuart] Rabner pointed to a report compiled by Legal Services of New Jersey, a non-profit in Edison, NJ, which mentions Strain in no less than four cases involving instances of robo-signing when Strain worked for Mount Laurel, NJ-based Full Spectrum Services prior to joining GMAC in 2009. The report also repeatedly mentions Strain's former boss, Frank Hallinan, a lawyer with mortgage law firm Phelan, Hallinan and Schmeig.(2)

• Full Spectrum was a legal support company owned and operated by Phelan, Hallinan. "I was notarizing maybe on an average of 50 a day," Strain said under oath in a 2008 deposition attached to the report.

• In one foreclosure case, Strain verified that Hallinan, who is Strain's primary notary client, is a vice president and assistant secretary of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, the electronic registry that tracks servicing rights and ownership of mortgages. But when questioned as to how he confirmed that Hallinan held this position, Strain said "word of mouth" before admitting, "I do not know."

• In another instance, Strain said he couldn't explain why he signed off on a document referring to Hallinan as a "she" rather than a "he." Strain also admitted that Hallinan may not have been present when he notarized documents on his behalf because they often worked out of different offices. When asked in the 2008 deposition if he was authorized to work as a notary in NJ, Strain said "no" even though he acknowledged notarizing documents in the state.

• Strain said under oath he understood the repercussions for false notarizations, but when asked for specifics he stumbled: "I don't know the exact. . .I just know that you have to. . .I don't know what the actual penalties are."

• As for Hallinan, the report alleges that he testified to preparing his mortgage assignments according to the instructions he received from the foreclosing party "without reviewing and supporting documentation." Neither Strain nor Hallinan responded to requests for comment.

For the story, see Report rips NJ foreclosure robo-signing notary.

See also Legal Services of New Jersey resource material on statewide robosigner scandal.

(1) For the court's 'robosigner' orders, see:

• Administrative Order - As Signed - 12-20-10,
• Notice to the Bar and Rule Amendment Order - As Signed - 12-20-10,
• Order to Show Cause - As Signed - 12-20-10.

(2) For the report, see Legal Services of New Jersey Report and Recommendations to the New Jersey Supreme Court concerning False Statements and Swearing in Foreclosure Proceedings, November 4th, 2010.

For the Exhibits to the Report:

Lender Processing Services

• EXHIBIT A -- In re Taylor Exhibits,
• EXHIBIT A -- In Re Taylor,
• EXHIBIT B -- Lender-Processing-Services-DOCX-Document-Fabrication-Price-Sheet,
• EXHIBIT B -- Summit vol2 issue3 copy,
• EXHIBIT C -- LPS press release Oct 4 2010,
• EXHIBIT D -- Post 2008 DOCX Assignment Christina Huang and Veronica Turner,
• EXHIBIT D -- Post 2008 DOCX Assignment,
• EXHIBIT E -- LPS - DOCX - Bogus Assignment--American Home to Bogus Assignee for Intervening Assignments DOCX(2),
• EXHIBIT F -- Deposition April 20 Scott Walter deposition,
• EXHIBIT F -- Deposition of Gregory N. Allen,
• EXHIBIT F -- Deposition of Christian S. Hymer, Lender Processing Services January 13, 2010,
• EXHIBIT F -- Deposition of Scott Walter VP of LPS[1].

Deposition Transcripts

• EXHIBIT G BOA Deposition of Krystal Hall. Security Connection.FirstFranklintoBOA[1],
• EXHIBIT G Chase Deposition of Charles Herndon, 10-06-09,
• EXHIBIT G Chase Deposition of Angela Melissa Nolan, of JP Morgan Chase[1],
• EXHIBIT G Chase Deposition of Beth Cottrell, -Part-1[1],
• EXHIBIT G Citi Residential Deposition of Brian Bly, depo with attch[1],
• EXHIBIT G Citi Residential Deposition of Tamara Price,
• EXHIBIT G GMAC Deposition of Jeffrey Stephan, 10000 Documents per month copy[1],
• EXHIBIT G GMAC Depostion of Judy Faber Robinson,
• EXHIBIT G IndyMac Deposition of Erica Johnson Seck, Wagstaff v IndyMac,
• EXHIBIT G IndyMac Deposition of Erica Johnson Seck, Indymac v Machado,
• EXHIBIT G Wells Fargo Deposition of Herman John Kennerty,
• EXHIBIT G Wells Fargo Deposition of Xee Moua,
• EXHIBIT G Wells Fargo Deposition of Tamara Savery, 0 7 15 09.

Sample Documents

• EXHIBIT H Chase Beth Cottrell – MERS BRAVO CREDIT – BOA TEE-EMC Atty in Fact - Burroff[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Bryan Bly Crystal Moore Collection docs 01through05 - 001[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Bryan Bly Crystal Moore Collection docs 06through10 - 001[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Bryan Bly Crystal Moore Collection docs 11through15 - 001[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Bly_Moore_Collection Index[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Bouck-1202 Raymond Street-Tamara Price[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Campbell-118 Elm Street-Tamara Price[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Chintomby-1621 Chrisler Avenue –Tamara Price[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Goodlett-552 Crane Street-Tamara Price[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Pecoraro-2032 Euclid Avenue-Tamara Price[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Tamara Price – Assignment – AMERIQUEST – CRL - WM SPECIALTY MTG - Humphreys[1],
• EXHIBIT H Citi Tamara Price – Assignment – AMERIQUEST – DEUTSCHE TEE - BDF - Brown[1],
• EXHIBIT H PHH Tracey Johnson Exhibit E (PHH)[1],
• EXHIBIT H Sand Canyon Christina Huang Sand Canyon,
• EXHIBIT H Sand Canyon Kaminski, Joseph Sand Canyon p. 31,
• EXHIBIT H Wells Fargo Franklin Exhibit K Kennerty Collection008[1],
• EXHIBIT H Wells Fargo Herman Kennerty – WF – NEW CENTURY - DEUTSCHE TEE - Perez[1],
• EXHIBIT H Wells Fargo In re Mims 10 14030 Kennerty Assignment[1].

Deutsche Bank Memos

• EXHIBIT I Foreclosure Practice Notice 10 25 2010 deutsche.

Scholarly Writing

• EXHIBIT J 10 27 2010 KATHERINE PORTER SENATE testimony-102710-porter,
• EXHIBIT J FDIC Speeches & Testimony - SHEILA BAIR 10-25-2010,
• EXHIBIT J Testimony of Katherine Porter & Sheila Blair – Summaries,

Examples of Robo-Signing in NJ

• EXHIBIT K In Re Rivera, 342 B.R. 435 Bankr. DNJ,
• EXHIBIT L Upke Deposition of Francis Hallinan 2.22.10,
• EXHIBIT L Ukpe brief,
• EXHIBIT L Upke - Thomas P Strain - Vol 1,
• EXHIBIT M Countrywide Home Loans v. Gustina Jones,
• EXHIBIT N Sinchegarcia Transcript of Decision 6-11-09,
• EXHIBIT N Sinchegarecia, Xavier - Transcript of Hearing 5-27-09,
• EXHIBIT O Bony v Raftogianis,
• EXHIBIT P Wolf Foreclosure Pleadings[1],
• EXHIBIT P Wolf Filed 2nd Supplemental Cert 1-7-10,
• EXHIBIT P Wolf Filed Copy Motion to Vacate Default,
• EXHIBIT P Wolf Filed ltr to Judge Buczynski in suppt of motion 1-7-10,
• EXHIBIT P Wolf Plaintiff's Opposition 11-10-09,
• EXHIBIT P Wolf Reply Brief 11-13-09,
• EXHIBIT Q Grizzle LaSalle Surreply to Grizzle Motion to Dismiss 1-22-08,
• EXHIBIT R Hollis Letter Brief 11-10-08,
• EXHIBIT R Hollis Cert of MLJ in opposition to protective order motion and cross motion to compel discovery(2),
• EXHIBIT R Hollis ex c,
• EXHIBIT S Ford Appellate Brief and Joint Appendix 12-23-09,
• EXHIBIT S Ford Respondent's Corrected Brief,
• EXHIBIT T Brena 5-22-09 letter brief - fees (1),
• EXHIBIT T Brena 5-22-09 letter brief - fees (2),
• EXHIBIT T Brena 5-22-09 letter brief - fees (3),
• EXHIBIT T Brena 5-22-09 letter brief - fees (4),
• EXHIBIT T Brena 5-22-09 letter brief - fees,
• EXHIBIT U Guillaume 11-1009 transcript of OTSC,
• EXHIBIT U Guillaume Defts Brief in Support of OTSC,
• EXHIBIT U Guillaume McMahon to Levy ltr 10-29-09.

Court Sanctions and Corrective Actions

• EXHIBIT V U.S. Bank v. Emmanuel J Schack Decis re Bechakas bogus AOMs[1],
• EXHIBIT W HSBC vs Betts Schack NY Opinion 042308[1],
• EXHIBIT W HSBC vs Charlevagne Schack NY Opinion 111507[1],
• EXHIBIT W Schack Drayton Decision 2010-10-28 (1),
• EXHIBIT W US Bank vs Grant Schack NY Opinion 110907[1],
• EXHIBIT W US Bank vs Maynard Schack NY Opinion 112607[1],
• EXHIBIT X In Re Ulmer 363 B R 777 (Bankr D S C 2007) sanctions for creditor failure to review pleadings and improper notarization.

Links

• LPS Desktop,
• Foreclosure and Bankruptcy (from LPS),
• J.P. Morgan Chase to freeze foreclosures over flawed paperwork (from The Washington Post),
• JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) (from The Washington Post),
• Speed equaled money in foreclosure 'machine' (from The Washington Post),
• OneWest Bank employee: 'Not more than 30 seconds' to sign each foreclosure document (from The Washington Post),
• Bernanke says U.S. regulators reviewing foreclosures (from The Washington Post),
• In foreclosure controversy, problems run deeper than flawed paperwork (from The Washington Post),
• Faulty Paperwork Prompts Deepening Foreclosure Problem (from the PBS NewsHour),
• The Road to 'Robo-Signing' (from the PBS NewsHour),
• 'Robo-Signing' Paperwork Breakdown Leaves Many Houses in Foreclosure Limbo (from the PBS NewsHour),
• Would a U.S. Foreclosure Ban Yield 'Catastrophic' Consequences? (from the PBS NewsHour),
• Homeowners Express Frustration with Government Loan Modifications (from the PBS NewsHour),
• TARP Watchdog: Foreclosure Program 'Too Small, Too Slow' (from the PBS NewsHour),
• Contact Your Mortgage Servicer (from Making Home Affordable).

Videos

Go here for links to robosigner videos.