Here is a good article about Looking at your loan documents and What to Look for in them for Fraud!
At 03:35 PM 10/5/2009, Mortgage Audits wrote:
Finding the Fraud in the Loan Documents:
What is now beginning to surface are the losses attributed to the massive amount of fraud that
mortgage originators created and passed on to Freddie Mac with two specific types of origination
fraud know as “Double-Funding”, “Double Selling” or “Double Warehousing” fraud and
Assignment Fraud.
“Double-Funding” involves a mortgage originator sending simultaneous funding requests for the
same loan to two different warehouse lenders. Both warehouse lenders, unaware of each other,
would send funding for the loan to the title companies specified by the mortgage originator. The
mortgage originator then disburses the money from one lender to the borrower, while directing
the title company to wire the money received from the other lender to mortgage originator’s bank
account. The mortgage originators then provide fabricated mortgage documents to the
warehouse lenders that falsely represented that the lender’s funds had, in fact, been used to
finance borrower loans.
Assignment Fraud involves modifications to the original loan where the name of the bank who
actually owns the note is changed on execution of the Loan Modification Agreement. The problem
with these “modifications” (actually new loans with new “lenders”) is that the old loans remain
unaffected. The existing cloud on title to the property, the mortgage deed (or deed of trust), the
note, the obligation, the purported assignments etc. is being compounded by attempts to allow
impostors to foreclose on the mortgage, collect on the note, modify the loan, or approve a short
sale. The time bomb is title where securitized loans were recorded, foreclosed, modified or sold.
The parties (other than the borrower and possibly the Trustee on the Deed of Trust) had actual
knowledge that the “lender” was not the Lender, the terms of the obligation were already changed
at the time of closing, the appraisal was false, the underwriting was negligent or fraudulent, the
Good Faith Estimate was by definition rendered neither in good faith nor even close to an
accurate estimate, and the list goes on and on.
In determining whether a particular loan is part of a “double-funding” or “double-selling” scheme,
examiners and forensic accountants should look for as evidence that a mortgage originator is
engaging in this scheme and participating in a pattern of deception, forgery and fraud. Once
demonstrated, these indicators inevitably point to fraudulent affidavits and assignments of
mortgages filed in the public records.
As you examine your loan documents you should be looking for the following:
1. Loan originators, servicers and their lawyers forge documents with “squiggle marks” that are
not the marks, initials or signatures of the actual officer that is notarized to be the signatory.
2. Signature, initials or “squiggle marks” differ for the same signatory from document to
document.
3. Squiggle marks and full signatures that are diametrically opposed to the known signature of the
signatory.
4. Pre-stamped assignments and notary signatures on assignments, affidavits and proof of
claims.
5. Back-dating of dates on assignments and signatures of officers dating years after either a
company is no longer in business or the officers are no longer with the company.
Finding the Fraud in the Loan Documents:
What is now beginning to surface are the losses attributed to the massive amount of fraud that
mortgage originators created and passed on to Freddie Mac with two specific types of origination
fraud know as “Double-Funding”, “Double Selling” or “Double Warehousing” fraud and
Assignment Fraud.
“Double-Funding” involves a mortgage originator sending simultaneous funding requests for the
same loan to two different warehouse lenders. Both warehouse lenders, unaware of each other,
would send funding for the loan to the title companies specified by the mortgage originator. The
mortgage originator then disburses the money from one lender to the borrower, while directing
the title company to wire the money received from the other lender to mortgage originator’s bank
account. The mortgage originators then provide fabricated mortgage documents to the
warehouse lenders that falsely represented that the lender’s funds had, in fact, been used to
finance borrower loans.
Assignment Fraud involves modifications to the original loan where the name of the bank who
actually owns the note is changed on execution of the Loan Modification Agreement. The problem
with these “modifications” (actually new loans with new “lenders”) is that the old loans remain
unaffected. The existing cloud on title to the property, the mortgage deed (or deed of trust), the
note, the obligation, the purported assignments etc. is being compounded by attempts to allow
impostors to foreclose on the mortgage, collect on the note, modify the loan, or approve a short
sale. The time bomb is title where securitized loans were recorded, foreclosed, modified or sold.
The parties (other than the borrower and possibly the Trustee on the Deed of Trust) had actual
knowledge that the “lender” was not the Lender, the terms of the obligation were already changed
at the time of closing, the appraisal was false, the underwriting was negligent or fraudulent, the
Good Faith Estimate was by definition rendered neither in good faith nor even close to an
accurate estimate, and the list goes on and on.
In determining whether a particular loan is part of a “double-funding” or “double-selling” scheme,
examiners and forensic accountants should look for as evidence that a mortgage originator is
engaging in this scheme and participating in a pattern of deception, forgery and fraud. Once
demonstrated, these indicators inevitably point to fraudulent affidavits and assignments of
mortgages filed in the public records.
As you examine your loan documents you should be looking for the following:
1. Loan originators, servicers and their lawyers forge documents with “squiggle marks” that are
not the marks, initials or signatures of the actual officer that is notarized to be the signatory.
2. Signature, initials or “squiggle marks” differ for the same signatory from document to
document.
3. Squiggle marks and full signatures that are diametrically opposed to the known signature of the
signatory.
4. Pre-stamped assignments and notary signatures on assignments, affidavits and proof of
claims.
5. Back-dating of dates on assignments and signatures of officers dating years after either a
company is no longer in business or the officers are no longer with the company.
http://dc131.4shared.com/download/134186016/9761c46f/BadNotary.pdf Notice that the notary
swears under oath that they witnesses the signature on these documents in 2001. However in the
State of Texas, notaries are commissioned for 4-years. The notary stamps on these documents
expires in 2006 making it impossible for this notary to have witnessed anything in 2001. Again,
these are all loans originated by Memorial Park Mortgage, sold to Freddie Mac and then, as
demonstrated here, other banks on forged and fraudulent assignments.
6. The forgery of forbearance agreements and modification agreements.
7. Missing assignments or multiple assignments of the same instrument filed in the public records
are a direct result of multi-pledging and the use of the same collateral, the mortgage loan, to pool
into securities or pledge for other financing and should be viewed as an overt act of fraud when
encountered.
As an example: http://dc131.4shared.com/download/134185974/325196a4/Aug28Admit.pdf
Freddie Mac was finally compelled by a court to admit to purchasing this particular loan even
though no assignment to Freddie Mac was ever filed in the public records.
8. The discovery of pre-dated, backdated and fraudulent assignments of mortgages or
endorsements either completely filled in or left blank to be filled in before or after the fact to
support the future allegations of a foreclosing party. These fraudulent assignments are typically
discovered by examiners in the servicers files or MERS files when MERS acts on the servicers
behalf. These documents are created for the sole purpose of assisting in concealing known
frauds and abuses by originators, prior servicers and are designed specifically to conceal the true
chain of ownership of a borrower’s loan.
Here is an example from a loan from Memorial Park Mortgage of Houston, Texas that was first
sold to Freddie Mac and then to several other banks by the originator.
http://dc148.4shared.com/download/134235430/a8cc4755/BlankAsmt.pdf Notice that the bank to
whom the assignment is made is left blank as are the instrument number and several other
blanks. More importantly, notice that the assignment has already been signed and notarized. This
document was produced in discovery by CitiMortgage even though an assignment to them
already existed in the public records.
9. No escrow instructions or settlement statements should trigger the examiner to immediately
attempt to locate the assignment of the mortgage. Multiple or missing assignments coupled with
an inability to produce escrow and settlement statements demonstrate a deliberate concealment
of the ownership of the borrower’s mortgage debt obligation and the actual lender to whom the
borrower is indebted.
10. Lack of possession of the original note demonstrating the proper chain of title and legal right
to foreclose should be noted as evidence of fraud. Coupled with a missing assignment or multiple
assignments is further evidence of the existence of fraud.
A common practice by some banks party to or victims of this kind of fraud is the fraudulent
concealment from the court and the borrower that the financial institution does not have
possession of the note. Of special note is the use of known false, fraudulent, and forged affidavits
and assignments by those institutions unable to demonstrate their possession of the original note.
The effects and implications are more far reaching than a borrower simply having their debt
extinguished. Debt extinguishment or dismissal of foreclosure actions could be obtained if it can
be shown the entity filing the foreclosure:
1. Does not own the note;
2. Made false representations to the court in pleadings;
3. Did not have the proper authority to foreclose;
4. Does/did not have possession of the note;
5. All indispensable parties (the actual owners) are not before the court or represented in the
pending foreclosure action.
This kind of fraud is not difficult to detect once you know the indicators.
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