WASHINGTON (AP) — Bank of America Corp., the nation's largest bank, said Friday it would stop sales of foreclosed homes in all 50 states as it reviews potential flaws in foreclosure documents.
A week earlier, the company had said it would only stop such sales in the 23 states where foreclosures must be approved by a judge.
The move comes amid evidence that mortgage company employees or their lawyers signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.
"We will stop foreclosure sales until our assessment has been satisfactorily completed," company spokesman Dan Frahm said in a statement. "Our ongoing assessment shows the basis for our past foreclosure decisions is accurate."
Concern is growing that mortgage lenders have been evicting homeowners using flawed court papers. State and federal officials have been ramping up pressure on the mortgage industry over worries about potential legal violations.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urged five large mortgage lenders to suspend foreclosures in Nevada until they have set up systems to make sure homeowners aren't "improperly directed into foreclosure proceedings." Nevada is not among the states where banks had suspended foreclosures.
Also Friday, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said it is halting most foreclosures and evictions in 23 states for a month so it can review whether documents it submitted to courts complied with state laws. An official at the Pittsburgh-based bank confirmed the decision on Friday, which was reported earlier by the New York Times. The official requested anonymity because the decision hasn't been publicly announced.
PNC becomes the fourth major U.S. lender to halt some foreclosures amid evidence that mortgage company employees or their lawyers signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.
In addition to PNC and Bank of America, Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage unit and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have announced similar moves in the past two weeks.
In some states, lenders can foreclose quickly on delinquent mortgage borrowers. By contrast, the 23 states use a lengthy court process. They require documents to verify information on the mortgage, including who owns it.
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crooks
Faking paperwork, foreclosing on houses they don't hold the lien to, falsifying affidavits - just par for the course. We should all feel sorry for the banksters who rushed to securitize garbage loans. If you're a homeowner and there's a paperwork mixup, well, you better pack your bags, ya deadbeat! But if you're a bankster and you commit fraud on an unimaginable scale, well, we should all feel sorry for you.
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Bank of America Corp., the nation's largest bank, been ripping America off . for years .
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It really is not asking a lot to expect that someone who has difficulty paying their $400 a month rent will know they are not going to be able to pay $800 a month on a mortgage. There sure were a lot of them that signed the papers though and there is no way you will convince me they were tricked. Like citygirl said, you have to fill out and sign a lot of papers in the mortgage process not to mention the realtor provides you with a printout of what you can expect the payments to be before they even show you the house.
I know people that have fallen on hardtimes, been injured or l lost a job and they have contacted their lender and worked out a plan. Believe me the last thing these lenders want is to be stuck with another empty house they have to unload at a loss. They would much rather keep the honest buyer in there making payments hopefully having their circumstances go back to good and get the thing paid off.
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Not true, contact your bank if you're going to be late and ask if you can forget the principal and pay only interest to help a little. A friend was told "absolutely not and let us know if you can't make the payment, we'll start forelosure." It happened just this month to someone I know. No plan worked out for this person who has been up to date right along and has fallen on hard times. I don't feel sorry for the banks at all.
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you are half right, the banks gave people mortages that they couldn't afford and maybe they should be helf accountable on some degree, HOWEVER, people have to sign lots of documents and are told what the mortage payments will be. A good person knows what they can afford and cannot, therefore the people should be held accountable as well.
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Until the bankers who broke our economy are jailed and have all there income clawed back we will never be whole as a country again. They created the housing bubble and granted themselves trillions in salary and bonuses and now they are literally stealing houses from people.
Lock the phuckers up.
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