It is very important for lenders and mortgage processing companies to not engage in suspect practices when it comes to documents related to home mortgages. Such practices can cause homeowners to suffer harm. One type of suspect practice that has gotten a lot of attention in recent months is robo-signing. According to an article by the Associated Press, robo-signing might actually have been more prevalent than was previously believed.
Reportedly, it was previously thought that robo-signing only occurred in connection to certain types of mortgage documents. However, in their reviews of mortgage documents, officials from counties in the U.S. have reportedly been finding suspect signatures on a wide variety of mortgage-related documents.
It also appears that robo-signing has been occurring for awhile. Reportedly, in the above-mentioned reviews, county officials have found suspect signatures on mortgage documents that are from as early as 1998.
Suspect signatures on mortgage documents have had significant impacts on foreclosure proceedings in recent months. Such suspect signatures could also have other effects. Reportedly, suspect signatures on mortgage documents could potentially cause some homeowners to run into difficulties when it comes to proving ownership of their home and to encounter problems when trying to sell their home. Thus, suspect signatures on mortgage documents could potentially cause great harm to homeowners.
Consequently, it is worrisome to think that robo-signing might have been more widespread than previously believed. Some interesting questions arise in connection to this issue. How many mortgage documents were affected by robo-signing? How much harm will robo-signing ultimately cause to homeowners? Will efforts be taken to clean up past mortgage documents that were robo-signed? It will be interesting to see how these questions are ultimately answered.
Source: The Associated Press, “Robo-signed mortgage docs date back to late 1990s,” Pallavi Gogoi, Sept. 1, 2011