The Great Deception -> *** Mortgage Foreclosures - Actions 2 Stop

*** Mortgage Foreclosures - Actions 2 Stop - Suits, ADVICE FOR VICTIMS & NOTABLE CASES!

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jofortruth

Posted: Oct 23 2010, 09:13 AM

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Cook County sheriff stops foreclosure evictions
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com:80/html/n...eclosure20.html

QUOTE

Sheriff's deputies in the county that includes Chicago were ordered Tuesday to stop carrying out mortgage-foreclosure evictions for the second time in two years.

Two years after temporarily halting foreclosure evictions to prevent innocent renters from being put on the street, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said he is halting evictions ordered by some leading lenders after learning some of their employees had signed off without even reading foreclosure documents.

Dart, who is preparing to run for mayor of Chicago, said there are about 500 evictions he could carry out now and perhaps an additional 1,000 within days but that he won't until he receives an affidavit from each of the banks asserting all their evictions are legitimate.

"Before I am asked to put more families out on the streets I am going to require the banks to tell me one basic thing: that it is all legal, that they have done their job and they are not asking me again to do something that's horribly unjust and in some cases may even be illegal," Dart said at a news conference.

Dart said his deputies will simply serve notices to residents of an eviction order until the end of this week. He said if he doesn't receive the requested affidavits by Monday, he will not enforce orders from Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and GMAC/Ally Financial.

Dart's announcement comes a day after Bank of America announced plans to resume seizing more than 100,000 homes in 23 states, saying it had the legal right to do so despite accusations that documents used in the process were flawed.

I agree this needs to be done, and more States should be doing the same. I just hope he is not only doing this because he is running for Mayor, but that because it is the right thing to do.

SOMEONE HAS TO STOP THESE ROGUE BANKERS WHO ACT LIKE NO LAW AFFECTS THEM AND THEY CAN DO AS THEY PLEASE IN EVERY RESPECT. IT IS SHAMEFUL THAT OBAMA AND DC HAVE GIVEN THEM CARD BLANC, AND THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!

IF THESE IDIOTS ARE TRYING TO TAKE YOUR HOME, AFTER WHAT THEY HAVE DONE, YOU MUST FIGHT THEM IN COURT BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO STANDING TO DO SO, NOR CAN THEY PRODUCE THE INFORMATION NECESSARY TO PROVE THEY OWN YOUR PROPERTY DUE TO THE DERIVATIVES MESS AND THEIR COMPUTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM FIASCO! (LOOK UP RANDY KELTON AND HE WILL EXPLAIN THAT TO YOU).

jofortruth

Posted: Oct 23 2010, 09:23 AM

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New York Judge Orders Foreclosure Lawyers Held Accountable For Accuracy Of Paperwork
http://www.huffingtonpost.com:80/2010/10/2...r_n_770798.html
http://theforeclosuredetonator.wordpress.c...owards-justice/
http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/2010/10/20...re-fraud-cases/

QUOTE

NEW YORK � The chief judge of New York's courts on Wednesday imposed a new rule requiring lawyers handling foreclosures to verify that all paperwork is accurate.

The move comes amid an uproar over accusations that mortgage lenders nationwide cut corners on paperwork and legal procedure as they moved to seize millions of homes. It follows a slew of other state efforts to respond to the foreclosure-paperwork debacle.

Attorneys general in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are jointly investigating whether mortgage companies have violated state laws. In Maryland, an emergency measure that the state's highest court approved this week outlines how state judges can review foreclosures and stop them if documents are invalid.

The Obama administration's top housing official said Wednesday that lenders are within their rights to resume foreclosures. But he cautioned that they could face federal fines if found to have broken the law.

The warning was largely directed at Bank of America Corp. and Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage unit, two big lenders who are resuming foreclosures after halting them temporarily to review documents. Both lenders faced allegations that employees signed but didn't read foreclosure documents that may have contained errors. The companies say they're fixing the problems.

In New York state, attorneys already have an obligation to ensure that the documents they present to the court are valid. But New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said having them sign something affirming that all papers got a proper review will hold them accountable like never before.

"We want to make sure that everyone is focusing like a laser on these particular types of proceedings," he said. "It puts them on notice. That's what this is all about. We all have to make doubly sure that we are doing what we should be doing in the first place."

The rule requiring a signed affirmation applies to both new cases and the 78,000 foreclosure actions already under way in New York courts.

Lawyers handling pending foreclosures will probably need to go back to their clients and verify that all proper steps were followed, Lippman said. The form created by the court requires the lawyers to identify the bank employee who affirmed that the records were accurate and disclose the date the conversation occurred.

Separately, New York Gov. David Paterson signed a new law Wednesday that will force banks to pay the legal fees of homeowners who successfully defend themselves against a foreclosure.

The idea, sponsors of the legislation said, is to give lawyers an incentive to take on cash-strapped clients who have a good case that a foreclosure is invalid, but can't afford an attorney.

"We cannot let people with valid defenses to foreclosure lose their homes merely for lack of legal representation," said Assemblyman Rory Lancman, a Queens Democrat who sponsored the legislation.

Ray Brescia, an Albany Law School professor who has tracked the mortgage crisis, said New York's new rule requiring lawyers to verify the accuracy of the foreclosure documents they file with the courts could be a model for other states.

"It really raises the ante on lawyers in a way that I've never seen before," Brescia said. If they don't comply, lawyers could face financial penalties, could be suspended from practicing or could be disbarred in extreme cases, he said.

Some New York judges have complained loudly about rampant errors of varying severity in legal filings by banks seeking to foreclose on record numbers of homeowners. In some cases, documents that were supposed to have been given an individualized review were signed by bank employees who never read them or checked them for errors.

Lippman said he was convinced the courts were seeing "systemic structural failings" in the foreclosure process, and he said judges and lawyers have a responsibility not to close their eyes to paperwork errors � even if they seem minor.

"You are talking about tremendous consequences. You are talking about taking people's homes," he said. "Those papers have to be accurate. They have to be credible."

In Washington, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said Bank of America and GMAC made "a business decision" to resume foreclosures.

Donovan said the government has found no evidence that the entire system used to handle foreclosures is flawed. Several federal agencies, including his department, bank regulators and the Federal Trade Commission, have authority to penalize mortgage companies if they're found to have violated the law.

The housing secretary discussed the foreclosure document mess earlier in the day with officials from 11 federal agencies that are reviewing the issue. He said the government is also in contact with the state attorneys general.

A federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the FBI is trying to determine whether the financial industry broke criminal laws in the mortgage foreclosure crisis.

In a related inquiry, Donovan said the Federal Housing Administration has found disparities in how five major lenders have responded to distressed homeowners. He said the FHA reached that conclusion after a four-month review. He declined to name the lenders.

The government has authority to fine lenders that fail to comply with guidelines of the FHA, which guarantees some home loans.

Some lawmakers have called for a national halt to foreclosures. The Obama administration opposes such a move, saying doing so could hurt the housing market by making it harder for buyers of foreclosed homes to complete their transactions.

In an interview earlier this week, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he also didn't support a nationwide foreclosure freeze. (Barney Frank needs to be kicked out of Congress. He is nothing but a YES man for the Globalist/Bankers. He has gone along with them at every turn, and needs to be punished politically by losing his seat and powerful position.)

"It never seemed to me that the great majority of these foreclosures were going to be invalid," he said. Frank said, though, that lawmakers should work next year to enact tighter regulations over the industry.

Well, at least one Judge sees what is happening and is putting a stop to it. GOOD FOR HIM! THIS IS A TRAVESTY, AND THE BANKERS AND THEIR LENDERS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. IS YOUR STATE DOING THIS? IF NOT, WHY NOT? WHAT IS HAPPENING IS VERY SINISTER, AND IF NOT STOPPED WILL AFFECT LAND OWNERSHIP AND YOUR RIGHTS TO OWN PRIVATE PROPERTY.

THIS IS ALL PART OF THE GLOBALIST AND BANKERS NWO GAME. THERE IS MUCH MORE TO THIS CHAOS THAN MEETS THE EYE. START READING AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND.

jofortruth

Posted: Oct 23 2010, 09:34 AM

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NY New Rule: Lawyers Must Truly Certify Foreclosure Documents:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/real-est...-docu/19682165/

The Affirmation:
http://www.nylj.com/nylawyer/adgifs/decisi...02110affirm.pdf
http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Secti...CONTENTID=43725

They must prove they own these houses PERIOD! With the derivatives scams, most can't prove this. This is interesting because it brings some accountability to lawyers who are handling these foreclosures. If they sign this and they are found to be lying, they will have perjured themselves and could lose their licenses to practice law.

QUOTE

business as usual can no longer be done and foreclosures will grind to a halt until new processes are in place, ones the attorneys are willing to bet their license on.

This guy gets it and is responding appropriately!

Globalists, Bankers, Lenders and all of their minions in Congress and elsewhere - SHAME ON ALL OF YOU! You have all been put on notice that some know exactly what you are doing to America, and it is going to stop!

jofortruth	Posted: Oct 23 2010, 10:01 AM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Randy Kelton On Solutions: How to Take Back What They Took From You (He is a Pro Se Researcher Litigant helping people keep their homes) http://www.prisonplanet.com:80/randy-kelto...k-from-you.html http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Decep...topic=8599&st=0 UPDATE: OTHERS SAY IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA TO ADDRESS THIS FRAUD YOURSELF IN COURT AS A PRO SE. THIS IS TOO COMPLEX, AND MAJOR FRAUD IS INVOLVED! CONSULT WITH DAVE KREIGER AND GET HIS BOOK "CLOUDED TITLE"! (More info later in this thread)!

jofortruth	Posted: Oct 23 2010, 10:14 AM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	All 50 states launch joint investigation into foreclosures http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/hous...nterstitialskip States: http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/2010/10/13...eclosure-probe/ Statement of the MultiState Group: http://i.usatoday.net/money/_pdfs/foreclos...s-statement.pdf http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/states-inv...eclosure-fraud/ And they best hold the main culprits responsible - ALL THE GLOBALIST MINIONS WHETHER THEY BE THE BIG BANKERS, CONGRESSMEN WHO WENT ALONG WITH THIS SHAM, OR WHOMEVER PARTICIPATED! THIS IS A FRAUD, AND DID NOT JUST HAPPEN BY COINCIDENCE. IT WAS A PLAN! IT WAS FRAUDULENT DERIVATIVES AND CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS THAT CAUSED THIS, AND THOSE WHO DID IT MUST BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE AND PUT OUT OF BUSINESS! THESE GLOBALIST SCAMS HAVE GONE ON LONG ENOUGH. IT'S TIME FOR ACCOUNTABILITY. IF THESE PEOPLE HAVE NO LOYALTY TO ANY COUNTRY, THEN THEY SHOULD BE RUN OUT OF TOWN AND FORM THEIR OWN! WE ARE SICK OF THEIR GAMES OF MANIPULATION AND DECEIT.

jofortruth

Posted: Oct 24 2010, 11:22 AM

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Ohio Woman Sues Bank of America
http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/2010/10/24...mae-ag-cordray/

QUOTE

This may be the first lawsuit from an individual homeowner seeking to undo a completed foreclosure.

jofortruth	Posted: Oct 28 2010, 08:04 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Ice Legal - Law Firm helping people scammed: http://www.icelegal.com/

jofortruth	Posted: Feb 12 2011, 01:57 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	David Stern, One Robosigner now Bankrupt: http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=201037.0 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41456966/ns/bu...ss-real_estate/ Wow, there is a little justice where some of these opportunist bottom feeders tried to rip off people! A picture of the now defunct hotshot who fed off of others to enrich himself. There is no lower person than someone who would do such: Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

jofortruth	Posted: Feb 24 2011, 04:22 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Predatory Lending Recovery: (Lenny Dykstra beat JP Morgan in court and set up this organization to help people who were scammed in the subprime fraud) http://www.home-free-systems.com/ Dykstra's Story: http://www.home-free-systems.com/index.php...w=article&id=13 Dykstra Documents: http://www.home-free-systems.com/images/st...t_Dykstra-2.pdf http://www.home-free-systems.com/images/st...to_Settle_3.pdf He was on the Alex Jones show talking about this 2-24-11: (3rd Hour)

jofortruth	Posted: Jul 4 2011, 03:08 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Read the book "Clouded Title" by Dave Krieger (EXCELLENT INFO!) http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Decep...wtopic=9430&hl= He suggests using a Quiet Title Action! He had success doing so!

jofortruth	Posted: Jul 18 2011, 11:00 AM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Protect America's Dream - A Group formed to help Americans whose homes are under attack by the NWO thugs who created the housing implosion: http://padnhc.com/

jofortruth	Posted: Aug 15 2011, 01:38 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	A Lawyer in Portland, OR who is representing people who have lost their homes in the mortgage scam - Amerai Law Group: http://www.amerailawgroup.net This group is helping people. They are also training other lawyers about how bad the foreclosure scam is, and is becoming, and what needs to be done to help people scammed out of their homes!

jofortruth	Posted: Aug 15 2011, 01:57 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	To see if MERS is on your mortgage, go to these sites: (Look in Lower right column for first link - "Start Here For MERSmin Search") http://www.padnhc.com http://www.dave.hersid.com http://merscurse.hersid.com/index.php?opti...id=65&Itemid=79 NOTE: I heard on a radio program that people can go to these sites to find out if MERS is on their mortgage documents. fyi

jofortruth	Posted: Aug 16 2011, 07:33 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Big Win in Georgia: http://4closurefraud.org/2011/08/15/big-wi...ure-in-georgia/

jofortruth

Posted: Aug 22 2011, 01:49 PM

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Framed? Police Raid Offices and Seize Documents of Lawyers Suing Banks for Mortgage Fraud:
http://theintelhub.com/2011/08/18/framed-p...mortgage-fraud/
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_...EMPLATE=DEFAULT

QUOTE

Police have filed charges, raided the offices, and seized documents from multiple lawyers who said they were preparing a class actions lawsuit against Wall Street banks for committing wide-spread mortgage fraud.

JUST AMAZING! IF THESE LAWYERS WERE RIGHTFULLY GOING AFTER THE BANKER SCAM ARTISTS ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHO WERE THEIR VICTIMS, THIS CAN NOT STAND!

LAWYERS, IT IS YOUR JOB TO GO AFTER THUGS, AND IN THIS CASE IT LOOKS LIKE THE STUPID COPS WHO RAIDED THESE LAW FIRMS (ON BEHALF OF THEIR BANKER THUG BOSSES), TRYING TO SUE THE BASTARDS WHO CREATED THE MORTGAGE SCAM!

THE BANKERS, AND THEIR MINIONS, NEED TO BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE FOR FINANCIAL TERRORISM AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE! IF WE ALLOW THESE THUGS TO SHUT DOWN A REAL INVESTIGATION AGAINST THE BANKERS, THEN AMERICAN LAWYERS ARE THE BIGGEST COWARDS ON EARTH, AND/OR PART OF THE THUGS CARTEL.

UNBELIEVABLE CRIMINALITY IS GOING ON, AND YET THE ATTY GEN OF THE US SITS THERE AND JUST PARTICIPATES IN THIS CRAP, INSTEAD OF DEALING WITH THE REAL CRIMINALS. WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU?

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY - SO WHICH IS TRUE? I FIND IT AMAZING THAT THESE GUYS CAN BE TARGETED FOR PROSECUTION, YET NOT A ONE OF THE BIG 6 BANKS WHO CAUSED THE PROBLEM HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. THEREFORE, I'M INCLINED TO THINK THE LAWYERS WERE TRYING TO HELP THEIR CLIENTS AND THE BIG BANKERS SENT THEIR THUGS TO TAKE CARE OF THAT. DISGUSTING! (I GUESS TIME WILL REVEAL WHICH IS TRUE).

State sues lawyers who, it says, defrauded troubled homeowners
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mort...,0,763423.story

jofortruth	Posted: Oct 17 2011, 01:16 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Homeowner Taps Occupy Protest to Avoid Foreclosure: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44908122/ns/us...e/#.TpxhASp5mK0 FOLKS, IF YOU LAY DOWN TO THESE CRIMINAL BANKERS TAKING YOUR HOMES, YOU ARE A FOOL! THIS LADY SPOKE UP, AND THE BANKERS BACKED DOWN! WHEN REAL PEOPLE STAND UP, THESE SCUMBAGS COW! THEY ARE ONLY TOUGH WHEN THEIR DEEDS ARE HIDDEN, ONCE EXPOSED THEY SHOW THEIR YELLOW STREAK! STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY YOURS, OR LOSE IT TO A BUNCH OF CRIMINAL SCUMBAGS!

jofortruth	Posted: Nov 21 2011, 02:38 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Another Attorney (Ohio) who gets the MERS scam and is helping the public: http://dannlaw.com/ http://dannlaw.com/practice-areas/homeowne...ng-foreclosure/

jofortruth

Posted: Mar 23 2012, 05:49 PM

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Indymac v Yano Horoski (NY Judge Jeffrey Spinner ruled against OneWest Bank, who bought the loan from failed Indymac, for their inept behavior to the degree of what he termed "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive")
http://livinglies.wordpress.com/2009/11/20...v-yano-horoski/

Case: (See pg 12 & 13)
http://livinglies.files.wordpress.com/2009...ano-horosky.pdf

QUOTE

"has been and is inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious."

See "Clouded Titles" pg 115-118. Dave Krieger talks about this case!
http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Decep...?showtopic=9430

jofortruth

Posted: Mar 23 2012, 10:18 PM

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Landmark National Bank v. Kesler:
http://www.kscourts.org/cases-and-opinions...90828/98489.htm

MERS tried to claim it was violated of Due Process. The court found that since MERS suffered no injury, it did not qualify for protection under the Due Process Clause of either the United States or the Kansas Constitution!

QUOTE

This Kansas Supreme Court case represents the problem with many mortgages presently. Securitization caused the deed and note (mortgage) to be split up, sold and resold many times!

This involves MERS which is called a "nominee" in your Deed of Trust! This court case defined the term "nominee" as a "straw man".

.......

The court held that MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registrations System)was a "nominee" company that had no right or "capacity" to bring an action for foreclosure and thus did not need to be notified.

(Source: "Clouded Titles" by Dave Krieger. See index for comments on this case)

jofortruth	Posted: Apr 10 2012, 01:54 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	US Bank v. Harpster: (Yet another example of Lenders producing fraudulent documents in court) http://www.foreclosureprose.com/storage/ca...arpsterCase.pdf http://msfraud.org/LAW/Lounge/U.S.BankvHarpster.pdf

jofortruth	Posted: Apr 10 2012, 01:59 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	GMAC v. Debbie Visicaro: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/doc...s/GMACcase1.pdf http://www.deanmostofi.com/?p=860

jofortruth	Posted: Apr 10 2012, 02:05 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Thousands more of these mortgage fraud cases: http://msfraud.org/LAW/Lounge/Standing.html Why have no regulatory agency personnel or watchdogs in gov (including those in the highest positions) been fired or put in jail for not doing their job, or turning a blind eye to this fraud? IT IS LUDICROUS THAT THIS WAS ALLOWED TO HAPPEN, EVEN AFTER WARNINGS THE FRAUD WAS GOING ON. HOW MANY BANKERS HAVE YOU SEEN GO TO JAIL? THE FRAUD IS UNREAL! Oh, and the worst part, this is far from over! More will lose their homes this year! It will continue until the public becomes aware of how they have been defrauded and hire knowledgeable attorneys to defend them and help them fight these pathetic banker lender predators! LEARN HOW TO FIGHT THESE BASTARDS with "Clouded Titles" by Dave Krieger: http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Decep...?showtopic=9430

jofortruth	Posted: Apr 16 2012, 10:04 AM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Have a Summary Audit done to see if your loans have been securitized: http://www.inspectoraudit.com/

jofortruth

Posted: Apr 20 2012, 09:01 AM

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Foreclosure Whistle Blower Atty Lynn Szymoniak (See CBS 60 mins video below) Nets $18 million in bank settlement deal: (See pg 252 of case below. This case is UNDER SEAL! Can't let the Americans know just how badly they have been screwed can we?) GRRR!
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/...ettlement-deal/
https://d9klfgibkcquc.cloudfront.net/Consen...BoA-4-11-12.pdf

QUOTE

Attorney Lynn Szymoniak had spent a career investigating insurance fraud when a bank moved to foreclose on her Florida home in 2008. Almost four years later, the fraud she said she uncovered by combing through mortgage documents earned her $18-million.

Bank of America and five other banks agreed to a $25-billion national foreclosure settlement with state and federal officials in February.

Szymoniak, 63, is among six whistle-blowers who will pocket $46.5-million as part of a $25-billion national foreclosure settlement that state and federal officials reached in February with five banks, including Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to the U.S. Justice Department.

�When they did this to her, they picked the wrong person at the wrong time in the wrong place,� Richard Harpootlian, Szymoniak�s attorney in two whistle-blower cases, said in an interview. �They stuck their hand into the beehive.�

Szymoniak�s examination, in which she relied on her experience as an insurance-fraud investigator, led to her claims against banks for submitting fraudulent documents to the federal government asserting that they owned loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, she said.

The national foreclosure settlement with the five banks, which resolves claims of abusive foreclosure practices, provides mortgage relief to borrowers, pays $1.5-billion to those who lost their homes to foreclosure, and sets standards for how the banks service mortgage loans.

Whistle-Blowers� Share

As part of the agreement, whistle-blower claims are being settled for about $228-million, according to court papers filed in federal court in Washington. A group of six whistle-blowers will receive $46.5-million out of that amount, said Alisa Finelli, a Justice Department spokeswoman.

Szymoniak�s foreclosure case began in July 2008 when Deutsche Bank AG, as trustee for a mortgage securitization trust, sued to seize her Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, home, which was once worth $1.3-million. The bank couldn�t prove it owned her loan and claimed it had lost the mortgage note, she said.

Like many homeowners, Szymoniak said she was surprised by the subprime mortgage crisis and its effect on the U.S. real- estate market. She stopped making mortgage payments in 2008 after a battle with cancer wiped out her savings and she cut back on work to care for her mother, who was sick, she said in an interview.

�Pretty Obvious�

Szymoniak said she was first alerted to problems in the paperwork on her foreclosure when Deutsche Bank said it acquired her mortgage note in October 2008, three months after the bank sued her over the loan.

�So I began doing what I�ve done for years � go out and investigate,� she said. �It was pretty obvious to me that the paperwork was fraudulent.�

Her work quickly uncovered widespread document fraud in the mortgage industry, she said, and eventually led to the filing of her whistle-blower cases in 2010.

The whistle-blower claims resolved in the national settlement include a case filed in Atlanta in 2006 in which banks are accused of defrauding military veterans and the U.S. government.

The banks violated rules under a Department of Veterans Affairs program for refinancing mortgage loans by charging improper fees to veterans, according to the complaint. The banks hid those fees and obtained government guarantees on the loans, according to the complaint.

Veterans� Settlement

The two whistle-blowers, Victor Bibby and Brian Donnelly, will split $11.7-million out of the $45-million JPMorgan agreed to pay to settle the veterans case, said Brandon Peak, a lawyer working on the case. Claims against other banks in the case are pending.

The settlement underscores the benefits provided to taxpayers from whistle-blowers and the incentives for those who expose fraud through so-called qui tam cases, Peak said.

�This is what qui tam actions are for � to incentivize people to come forward and expose fraud,� he said. �The taxpayers actually receive this money back that they never would have received absent these whistle-blowers.�

Szymoniak said her review of mortgage documents uncovered the practice known as robo-signing, in which bank officials and contractors signed tens of thousands of foreclosure documents at a time without verifying any of the information. The same people also used various job titles on the forms, Szymoniak said.

Widespread Practices

It took her �less than five days� to figure out that the practices were widespread.

Szymoniak decided to approach law-enforcement officials with her suspicions that taxpayers may have been defrauded as the fraudulent documents were submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by banks seeking to collect on government-insured loans, she said.

Her discoveries also prompted her to hire Harpootlian, who had retained Szymoniak in the past as an expert witness in a lawsuit against the insurer American International Group Inc., to file her whistle-blower claims.

Szymoniak was also represented by Ken Suggs, another South Carolina-based plaintiffs� lawyer and Reuben Guttman, a Washington-based attorney who specializes in whistle-blower litigation.

Most whistle-blower cases are brought by company insiders who uncover wrongdoing within their own corporations or a competitor�s, said Joel Hesch, a former Justice Department lawyer who is now a professor at Liberty University Law School in Virginia. A person doesn�t have to be an insider to file a false-claims case, said Hesch, who spent 16 years litigating whistle-blower cases on behalf of the government.

80% Rejected

The government turns down about 80% of whistle- blower cases it reviews as a required step in the litigation, Hesch said. If the government rejects the case, plaintiffs are free to press their claims on their own.

Szymoniak said she was prepared to do just that if the government failed to join her suit over mortgage-foreclosure practices.

Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for New York-based JPMorgan, declined to comment on the whistle-blower cases resolved as part the national foreclosure settlement. Shirley Norton, a spokeswoman for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, didn�t return an e-mail seeking comment.

The three other lenders that agreed to the national settlement were Detroit-based Ally Financial Inc., San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. Gina Proia, an Ally Financial spokeswoman, declined to comment. Wells Fargo spokeswoman Vickee Adams didn�t return an e-mail seeking comment.

�No Systemic Issues�

Mark Rodgers, a Citigroup spokesman, also declined to comment on the claims. The New York-based bank has added resources to ensure foreclosures are processed correctly, he said in an e-mailed statement.

�The changes and safeguards implemented give Citigroup confidence that there are no systemic issues in its existing foreclosure processes,� he said.

Szymoniak said she�s unsure what she�ll do with the $18-million award. Deutsche Bank is proceeding with its foreclosure action against her home, she said.

�Even if I pay off the mortgage, I would own a house with no clear title, so I still couldn�t sell it,� she said.

The national foreclosure settlement case is U.S. v. Bank of America Corp., 12-00361, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

jofortruth	Posted: Apr 21 2012, 05:23 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,421 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	CBS 60 Minutes Interviews Attorney Lynn Szymoniak 3/26/11 (This is the lady who won a settlement from the bankers and now her suit is sealed so the people can't see it. So what are they hiding? MUCH! THAT'S WHY THEY SETTLE TO KEEP THE TRUTH FROM COMING OUT!) http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/2011/04/03...-chris-pendley/ http://4closurefraud.org/2009/10/18/forecl...ords-for-fraud/

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