By Charles Riley, staff reporterOctober 8, 2010: 3:40 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Bank of America is halting foreclosure sales in all 50 states as part of a widening investigation into flaws in the process, the company announced Friday.
The announcement came a week after the nation’s largest bank said it was freezing home foreclosures in 23 states where foreclosures must be approved by the courts.
The bank said the foreclosure process on delinquent borrowers will continue, but it will not proceed to judgment or a foreclosure sale.
“We haven’t found any problems in the foreclosure process,” Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) President and CEO Brian Moynihan said in an appearance before the National Press Club in Washington. “What we are trying to do is clear the air, and say ‘We will go back and check our work one more time.’ ”
The review process is likely to last a few weeks, Moynihan said.
Bank of America is not the only bank to freeze foreclosures.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) announced last week that it will also halt proceedings for about 56,000 homeowners after learning that its employees may have approved foreclosures without personally reviewing loan files.
JPMorgan Chase had no comment on Friday’s announcement by Bank of America.
Ally Financial, previously known as GMAC, the finance arm of General Motors, has also paused foreclosures in the 23 states.
However, Citigroup said it is making no changes in its foreclosure procedures. “At this point, we have no reason to believe our employees haven’t been following our procedures, so we do not believe a suspension is necessary,” spokesman Mark Rodgers said in an e-mailed statement.
State attorneys general have stepped up pressure on banks in recent days after it was revealed that some bank employees had signed foreclosure affidavits without verifying that the documents were accurate, a process now known as “robo-signing.”
Ohio’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Ally Financial and its subsidiary GMAC Mortgage for allegedly submitting fraudulent documents in hundreds of foreclosure cases across the state.
Ally declined to comment Friday when asked if they would follow Bank of America and expand their freeze.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, announced Friday that he will hold a hearing to investigate allegations of improper mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing on Nov. 16, the day after the Senate returns from recess.
On Thursday, the White House said that President Obama won’t sign a bill that could have made it easier for courts to clear foreclosures. The bill would have required federal and state courts to recognize documents that were notarized in other states. 
Filed under: bubble, CDO, CORRUPTION, currency, Eviction, foreclosure, GTC | Honor, Investor, Mortgage, securities fraud |
First I want to thank you for allowing me to post this comment on your site.
The information here would be helpful to any one working in the real estate industry.
If you go to one or all of mine and post a comment I will approve it. As you know this
provides a back link to your site.
http://www.fha.floridabuildinginspect.com, http://www.floridabuildinginspect.com
toll free 877 382 0811
The only reason B of A and the others imposed that self moratorium was because of their title insurers. The media still don’t get it calling robo-signing a technicality.
I’m dealing with BofA also but only because I listed them as one of the defendents in my suit. Since I’m in CO, MERS put some goofy exception to who gets to foreclose because unlike any other state (I understand) CO uses a public trustee so MERS said don’t foreclose in their name, use the trust as the fall guy and foreclose using them via their trustee. Yeah, MERS is dictating who gets to foreclose. So I’m doing the whole PSA thing and I need to know FOR SURE what a 15-15d filing means. Every CWALT trust I’ve looked at filed a 15-15d a few months after the closing date and then quit filing after a few more months. Is the 15-15d a termination or simply a trick to not have to publically file anymore?
I also have a mortgage through BofA and the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed is CIG HFI 1ST LIEN MORTGAGE.
I am in between the default judgement and the sheriff’s sale in my foreclosure. Expected sale is mid January.
The Legal Notice I received also states that BAC Home Loans is required by law to inform me that this communication is froma debt collector. And it is clearly from Bank of America Home Loans, so BAC must be the debt collection part of BofA.
But who is CIG HFI? I have found out what it stands for but cannot find it anywhere within BofA. And does it open up any can of worms in this whole mortgage-gate thing for me? In other words, does it allow me to reopen the foreclosure so that I can investigate?
Help
Rarely, is anything divulged. What you state here – is what we need more of. They need to divulge, completely, where the loan collection rights are. Halting in 50 states – is a red flag. If there is continued pressure – more will find out they are in same place as you.
ANYONE ELSE?
has BofA told any other borrowers that there loan was sold and there creditor was CIG HFI 1st Lien Mortgage? IF so please post here.
I wonder what they have planned to knock this of the front page…”terror” attack? War with Iran? Stock market tanking because of all the pressure on the banks destroying the all-important “investor confidence?”. They’re not going to let this be the news for much longer….
Agreed, vegasdude…this action by BoA only gives me more ammo against them, and I had plenty to begun with. I will not relent, I will not tire, I will not back down. I’ll stand my ground…won’t be turned around…you know the rest…
Well, it’s a start….but notice the wording by the guilty:
“Citigroup said it is making no changes in its foreclosure procedures. ‘At this point, we have no reason to believe our employees haven’t been following our procedures, so we do not believe a suspension is necessary,’ spokesman Mark Rodgers said in an e-mailed statement.”
OUR procedures…..not “the law.” What a laugh. I’ve got to believe their “procedures” are a lot like what was going on in the offices of David Stern in Florida.
And then, we have California AG Brown’s dictate to force lenders to comply with this lame turkey provision:
“California law prohibits lenders from recording notices of default on mortgages made between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, unless, subject to limited exceptions, the lender contacts or tries diligently to contact the borrower to determine eligibility for a loan modification.”
Wow. Let’s sit and talk about something that the bank, who was never even the actual lender and who does not own the Note, cannot do. Well, now that we know there won’t be a loan mod, let’s move forward with the foreclosure. Here’s our “affidavits” and “assignments”….won’t you please abandon your home now? It would make it so much easier for us. Here, please take a tiny bit of your own money back for your house keys.
Yeah, Right!
I hope these stories just confirm the need to keep our foot on the gas and NEVER give up. The banks committed all the fraud. We, the homeowners and borrowers, did not. If we keep pressing for justice, we will get it. Just don’t stop until you do.
Brown Calls on Banks to Halt Foreclosures In California
SAN FRANCISCO – Following his office’s negotiations with the state’s top loan servicers and today’s announcement by Bank of America that it is temporarily halting foreclosures nationwide, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today called on the state’s other lenders to halt foreclosing on California homes until the banks can demonstrate that they are complying with state law.
“All lenders should halt foreclosures until they clear up this mess and ensure that the process is fair and complies with California law,” Brown said. “Bank of America has taken an important step, and the other major lenders should follow its lead.”
California law prohibits lenders from recording notices of default on mortgages made between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, unless, subject to limited exceptions, the lender contacts or tries diligently to contact the borrower to determine eligibility for a loan modification. A notice of default must include a declaration of compliance with California law.
In the past few weeks, Brown’s office has been in discussions with Bank of America, Ally Financial, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and OneWest to ascertain whether they are complying with California law. Brown’s office has called on those banks to show they are complying with state law before continuing with foreclosures.
JP Morgan Chase, the nation’s third largest loan servicer, Ally Financial and One West have admitted that employees approved and signed foreclosure documents without first fully reviewing the borrowers’ loan files. As a result, those borrowers lost their homes based on affidavits the bank never confirmed were accurate.
Ally Financial and JP Morgan have suspended foreclosures in 23 other states that, unlike California, require a court order for foreclosures.
# # #
You may view the full account of this posting, including possible attachments, in the News & Alerts section of our website at: http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=2000