A Pasco County, Florida foreclosure case was recently dismissed by a circuit judge because of fraud. Judge Lynn Tepper found for the defendant/homeowner when a mortgage assignment document was found to be backdated. The date of the assignment was several months before the notary stamp on the same document even existed.
The defendant/homeowner had asked repeatedly for two years for copies of the original mortgage, note and assignment. The foreclosure plaintiff never produced the requested documents for review. The plaintiff or plaintiff’s representative also failed to appear at the court hearing. The mortgage assignment document in question was produced by Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.
In another recent Florida foreclosure case, two different banks were found to be trying to foreclose on the same piece of property at the same time. Both banks had affidavits saying they had the right to foreclose. Both affidavits were produced by the same company. Both affidavits were signed by the same person in the capacity of director of two separate corporations.
Other instances of this type of foreclosure fraud have been previously reported. Employees of large mortgage paperwork processing firms are seemingly signing assignments and affidavits in the capacity of corporate officers of several different corporations. Dates of the documents and notary stamps seem not to match. Dates of assignment documents seem not to match the dates of the actual assignments.
Anyone facing foreclosure should look into this area very closely. Ask the foreclosing entity to see the actual documents. Check all of the dates to be sure they are plausible. Research the names to be sure the signatures were actual officers of that company at that time. If a company wants to foreclose your property they must be able to legally prove that they own the mortgage.
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