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Massachusetts AG preparing to file foreclosure lawsuits
October 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Aruna Viswanatha, Reuters
Massachusetts on Wednesday said it is preparing to sue big banks related to unlawful foreclosures, dealing another blow to the multi-state talks aimed at resolving those investigations on a national scale.
“I have lost confidence that the banks will bring to the table an agreement that properly holds them accountable for wrongful foreclosures,” Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement.
Federal and state officials met with representatives of several large U.S. banks this week with hopes of reaching a deal in the coming weeks.
Mortgage servicing units of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Wells Fargo (WFC.N), Citigroup (C.N), and Ally Financial are accused of coping with an unexpected deluge of mortgage defaults beginning in 2008 by cutting corners and unlawfully rushing through foreclosure paperwork.
A settlement with all 50 states and federal authorities could help the banks move beyond the legal fallout that has dogged them since the peak of the financial crisis.
But the long-running talks — which will hit the one-year mark later this month — have been plagued from the start with criticism from states concerned about the extent of the legal immunity the banks have sought.
Last Friday, California pulled itself from the negotiating team and said the deal under discussion would not provide enough relief to the state’s homeowners.
I was on First Shift With Tony Trupiano In Detroit This Morning
September 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Steve Dibert, MFI-Miami
For those of you who may have missed it, I was on First Shift With Tony Trupiano this morning talking about my favorite subject, Linda Orlans, Marshall Isaacs and fraudulent mortgage assignments Michigan based Orlans Associates are filing in Essex County, Massachusetts. We discussed how Orlans and her Massachusetts partner Julie Moran are now being actively investigated by the Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley for robo-signing where as Michigan Attorney General Bill Shuette only has an “open” investigation.
Naturally, we began talking about Linda Orlans’ political ties to Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. We touched on how those political connections and donations make the foreclosure mills believe they won’t get punished if they get caught committing fraud.
You can listen to the podcast version here
Interstate Notary Fraud Uncovered At Detroit Foreclosure Mill
September 21, 2011 By 1 Comment
Steve Dibert, MFI-Miami
Back in July, MFI-Miami exposed how Orlans Associates in suburban Detroit was violating the Michigan Notary Public Act by filing affidavits and mortgage assignments at County Register of Deeds offices across Michigan containing notary signatures that did not match the Notary’s application on file with the Michigan Secretary of State.
MFI-Miami has discovered this epidemic of notary fraud was not just contained to Michigan. With the help of John O’Brien, the Southern District Register of Deeds in Essex County, Massachusetts, MFI-Miami has discovered nearly15 mortgage assignments filed between May and July of 2010 from Orlans and that were allegedly notarized by Kelly Marie Holowecki. These signatures clearly do not match the signature on her Notary application that is on file with the Michigan Secretary of State. These assignments also include robo-signed signatures of Michigan attorney Marshall Isaacs, an attorney at Orlans Associates.
These fraudulent signatures violate Section 55.287 of the Michigan Notary Public Act which reads:
Signature of notary public; statements; stamp, seal, or electronic process; effect of illegible statement.
Sec. 27. (1) A notary public shall place his or her signature on every record upon which he or she performs a notarial act. The notary public shall sign his or her name exactly as his or her name appears on his or her application for commission as a notary public.
Because the Notary signatures on these documents clearly violate Michigan law, they would be invalid under Massachusetts law. Section 33 of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 183 clearly sates:
Whenever, under clause (b) of section thirty or under section forty-one, a certificate of authority is required to be attached, there shall be subjoined or attached to the certificate of proof or acknowledgment a certificate of the secretary of state of the state where the officer taking the acknowledgment resides, under the seal of such state, or a certificate of the clerk of a court of record of such state in the county where said officer resides or where he took such proof or acknowledgment, under the seal of the court, stating that said officer was, at the time of taking such proof or acknowledgment, duly authorized thereto in said state, and that said secretary of state or clerk of court is well acquainted with his handwriting and verily believes the signature affixed to such certificate of proof or acknowledgment is genuine.
Essex County Southern District Register of Deeds, John O’Brien pledged to hand the information provided to him by MFI-Miami to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, “My office has been examining the documents that have been filed by Orlans since MFI-Miami alerted us to the robo-signed signatures of Marshall Isaacs back in May. Homeowners need to be insured that all signatures on publicly recorded documents in registries of deeds need to be authentic. I will be handing MFI-Miami’s findings off to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office to be included in their pending investigation.”
Massachusetts Attorney Glenn Russell, who successfully argued US Bank v Ibanez and Wells Fargo v. Larace on behalf of Ibanez and Larace in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last year, believes Orlans may have violated Massachusetts law as well.
In 2004, Governor Mitt Romney signed the REVISED EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 455 (04-04). Section 5(b) which states:
“In completing a notarial act, a notary shall sign his or her name exactly as it appears on the notary’s commission.”
Glenn Russell claims that even though this Executive Order may not have the power of law per se, it is used as reference material in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Land Court Guidelines on Registered Land (Page 2) which does:
Registration districts of the Land Court should not refuse to register documents either (a) because they bear official notarial seals and stamps which are not in the form, or do not contain the content, required by said Executive Order, or (b) because they do not contain the form of certificate of acknowledgment or jurat set forth in said Executive Order, provided, however, that those documents would have been acceptable for registration before the promulgation of Executive Order No. 455.
In all seriousness, am I missing something here?
First, Orlans employees commit robo-signing which has been confirmed by several Registrars in two states. Now MFI-Miami has discovered notary fraud committed by Orlans employees in two states. It appears Linda Orlans, Julie Moran and Marshall Isaacs slept through their ethics class in law school.
I know, I’m as disgusted as you are by the fact this gluttonous behemoth is able to essentially assist in the financial genocide of the American middle class through immoral and unethical behavior but don’t worry their day of reckoning is coming.
