Foreclosure practices need overhauling in Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that 3 Atlanta banks need to overhaul their foreclosure practices.
In a previous post to our Atlanta Bankruptcy Attorney Blog we suggest those dealing with bad mortgage debt seek the advice of an experienced bankruptcy attorney in Georgia to discuss their rights.
Federal regulators have ordered the 14 biggest U.S. mortgage servicers, including the Big Three of metro Atlanta, to revamp foreclosure practices, after an investigation found unacceptable documentation and a lack of assistance for struggling borrowers. A review of foreclosures from 2009 and 2010 will be done by consultants. If after review the foreclosure was deemed mishandled the consumer will be reimbursed.
The Big Three in Atlanta are SunTrust Mortgage, Charlotte-based Bank of America and San Francisco-based Wells Fargo. SunTrust happens to be the nation's 8th biggest residential mortgage servicer and recently reported document issues in 4,000 foreclosure cases. They are currently in the process of fixing these documentation errors which critics say were caused by "robo-signing".
This term in the foreclosure industry refers to the practice of banks signing thousands of documents without ever verifying the information contained in them. This practice calls into question the legitimacy of many mortgage foreclosures. There have been reports of a bank official who signed off on nearly 10,000 documents in one month. The worst allegations accuse banks of making up documents and forging signatures and notaries.
"The enforcement orders issued today are important, but they are only a first step in setting out a framework for these large institutions to remedy these deficiencies and to identify homeowners harmed as a result of servicer errors," the FDIC said in a written statement.
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