Citimortgage admits foreclosure paperwork problems
Today’s Washington Post reports that Citimortgage has admitted mistakes in its foreclosure filings. Unfortunately, news like this has become so common that it’s easy to say “ho, hum,” but we must not fall into that trap. For instance, here’s a quote that is buried in the story but, upon reflection, is really, really disturbing:
“to assure that these affidavits are substantively correct and properly executed, Citi expects that affidavits executed prior to the fall of 2009 will need to be refiled”
Think about that for a minute. As I read that, Citi is admitting that all affidavits executed in and before the Summer of 2009 must be re-filed, apparently because every such affidavit was done incorrectly. You may think that’s a good thing, but ask yourself this – what about all of the homes Citi foreclosed on from before the Fall of 2009?
I can’t speak for Citi, but I can vitually guarantee you that Citi isn’t going to unwind any of those foreclosures. The new affidavits wil only be filed in the cases that aren’t already over. For those that lost their homes to improper evidence, there is, apparently, no remedy.
Here’s the entire story…
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/political-economy/2010/11/citimortgage_admits_to_foreclo.html
Citigroup, which for almost two months has claimed its process for preparing foreclosure affidavits was sound, is reviewing about 14,000 documents, including 4,000 that may have been notarized improperly, a company official said in written testimony to Congress to be delivered Thursday.
Unlike other large mortgage servicers it competes with, Citi had not frozen foreclosures and had repeatedly declined to publicly discuss any internal reviews it was conducting. Harold Lewis, managing director of CitiMortgage, said in the written remarks that 10,000 of the 14,000 documents being reviewed are for judicial foreclosures.
The purpose of the review is “to assure that these affidavits are substantively correct and properly executed. Citi expects that affidavits executed prior to the fall of 2009 will need to be refiled,” Lewis said. The other 4,000 documents that are being reviewed were prepared at its Dallas processing center and “may not have been signed in the presence of a notary, to assure that these affidavits are substantively correct and properly executed.” Lewis said these affidavits were also be refiled.
Lewis and other representatives from large mortgage servicers-Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Ally Financial-will take questions from members of Congress Thursday starting at 10 a.m. at a House Financial Services Committee hearing. Lewis said that Citibank had been taking steps to improve its foreclosure practices since the fall of 2009.
In responding to questions about the robo-signing problems at other servicers, Citi has previously said that it has “have strong training to ensure that appropriate employees are fully aware of the proper procedures.”
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