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The Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Stuart Rabner, has set a hearing on January 19 which could lead to a suspension of foreclosures for all of the state’s leading servicers. Judge Rabner basically wants the servicers to show cause for why foreclosure processes should not be suspended, which puts the onus on them. Judge Mary C. Jacobson has been designated by Judge Rabner to hear this case.
This is from the press release from the New Jersey Supreme Court:
“Today’s actions are intended to provide greater confidence that the tens of thousands of residential foreclosure proceedings underway in New Jersey are based on reliable information. Nearly 95 percent of those cases are uncontested, despite evidence of flaws in the foreclosure process,” said Chief Justice Rabner.
“For judges to sign an order foreclosing on a person’s home, they must first be able to rely on the accuracy of documents submitted by lenders. That step is critical to the integrity of the judicial process,” said Rabner.
In a separate administrative order, Judge Glenn Grant has directed all lenders and servicers who have filed more than 200 foreclosure actions in 2010 to prove that there were no irregularities in those proceedings. Given the scope of foreclosure fraud, this is nearly impossible. And, Judge Rabner issued an edict similar to what has been issued by the Supreme Court in New York, essentially requiring the plaintiffs’ attorneys to certify the information filed in foreclosure proceedings.
The documents released by the courts can be viewed here and here. It’s really a simple case – here’s the evidence, and now the servicers must prove they are following the existing laws of the state courts, and if they’re not, the courts will stop the proceedings, period.
This is the first state court to undertake such a sweeping action against lenders and servicers since the revelations about robo-signers and foreclosure fraud emerged. Considering that New York has gone at least part of the way down this road already with the certification for lawyers, I’d expect Judge Rabner’s actions to be only the first.
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Thank you for your post, David.
Sure wish this could be done sooner. I wonder how many homes are being foreclosed upon in the interim?
What happened today was huge. The Court acted on its own to drag 6 big lenders into court to show cause why the court shouldn’t just shut down all of their unopposed foreclosures. The foreclosure lawyers are going to have to sit down and sign all kinds of certifications that there are no irregularities in the documents they’re filing with the courts. That they knew what they were signing was true. They aren’t going to be able to do it.
Robo signing hasn’t just been happening in back rooms in Plano, TX – it is happening all over New Jersey when the plaintiffs attorneys sign and file whatever a paralegal hands to them. They aren’t verifying the truth of what they’re filing any more than they’re standing in McDonalds weighing the quarter pounders to make sure they aren’t only 3 ounces.
And the lenders, who are suddenly the hunted, have brought in big national firms to look over the shoulders of the local guys who’ve done the filing. I read through these orders amazed at their scope and cheered at the thought of the lawyers from the big Jersey foreclosure firms having to eat their own bullshit pleadings.
The court keeps going back to the fact this fraud has been perpetrated on the unrepresented. The tragedy is the people who have given up and walked away and lost their souls and their homes based on nothing but hot air blown at them by banks who gamble, almost always correctly, that the people will blame themselves and won’t fight back. All those empty houses with the smaller bedrooms painted blue or pink.
Investigate lawyers who unlawfully cause homelessness via deliberate foreclosure fraud
Whether or not some people never should have been given mortgage loans; and whether or not homeowners realize any legal basis to challenge foreclosures, it is urgently important to look white collar foreclosure activities! Also, illegal, fraudulent foreclosure causes useless deeds for property sales; title insurance denials, blight –and more. http://chn.ge/eU2zAm
Furthermore, some PREDATORY mortgage loans are issued for the very purpose of default so that properties can become flipped, repeatedly (hence blight); and lenders gain tax credits, mortgage-default insurance, and more! Additionally, too often, not only has the lender NOT filed foreclosure, certain homes wound up being flipped by the foreclosure mill lawyers who execute simulated auctions whereby “straw buyers” fraudulently “credit bid”!
White collar foreclosure fraud entails intentionally fraudulent foreclosures naming defunct mortgage companies, or having no ownership of notes; unfair fees beyond “Acceleration Clauses” that impairs borrowers’ ability to repay arrears; falsified Bankruptcy Court motions to “Lift Stay” for accomplishing”simulated” foreclosure auctions via “straw buyers.” And lawsuits against foreclosure lawyers for fraud and “Unfair Debt Collection Practices,” generates more lawyer fees.
Scores of homeowners do not contest foreclosures because of: not having knowledge of the law in order to recognize legally challengeable foreclosures or fraud; lack funds to pay for attorneys to represent them; homeowners are told to come to foreclosure auctions with money that they do not have, so they stay away from foreclosure auctions. It is extremely troubling that there are families living outdoors, and people strapped with illegal “deficiency judgments” whose homes have been confiscated via real estate racketeering!
*Request for Congressional Foreclosure Panel to Examine Foreclosure Lawyers @ http://chn.ge/eU2zAm